Memoirs of Blue
by RevolutionAngel
Summary: NarutoxOC My name is Ogokasi Liyenn. I am thirteen years old and I am from a small, mysterious village ten miles northwest of the Naruto Bridge. Rest of summary inside. Rating may go up for future chapters.
1. A Strange New Girl

**Disclaimer:** _Memoirs of Blue_, Ogokasi Liyenn, Morigakue no sato, all non-canon characters © RevolutionAngel

Naruto, characters and universe © Masashi Kishimoto

(This stands throughout the entire story of _Memoirs of Blue_)

**Summary:** My name is Ogokasi Liyenn. I am thirteen years old and I am from a small, mysterious village ten miles northwest of the Naruto Bridge. I may seem like your average teenaged kunoichi who leads a normal life. But, the truth is, I'm not. Inside of me lives a spirit that many has wanted. I was disliked by most of the villagers and ignored by all of the children my own age. I was also being trained to be a weapon that would, one day, conquer the country in which I lived.

My life was pretty much set for me... a destiny I could not change for myself. I felt as if I was becoming something I wasn't. But then, who knew that just one person could drastically change your life forever? After meeting and become friends with one particular magnetic shinobi, my life, as well as his, began to change. He saved me, and I really believe it's true...

* * *

**Chapter One:**

**A Strange New Girl**

By a street not too far from the new Naruto Bridge, a young girl and a middle aged man were discussing something. Business of sorts, by the looks of it. His cool but aged features contorted as he talked with the young girl, in discontent with her words. "Well, Liyenn? Do you want the extra pay, or not?" he was asking the girl, eying a group of people coming towards them, each of them wearing hitai-ates engraved with the symbol of the Hidden Leaf.

"Yes, Master, I do. But, I can't just attack someone on the road." the girl replied, almost biting her tongue so she would not raise her voice to him.

"Then make it a challenge. If you can disarm them, you get your extra money."

"And, for what reason should I accept? Why do you want me to fight them?" Her voice shook as she spoke, her hands balling into fists.

He glared down at the much shorter girl, towering over her like a giant. "Don't you take that tone with me, girl! Do you want the money or not?" he hissed, watching as she only glared back. "I'll pay you double then I do for your missions. And... you could look at this like a test, of sorts."

Hanging her head, she sighed, defeated. "Which of them to do you wish for me to challenge?" she asked softly, averting her eyes. She didn't want to do this, she really didn't. But, for the money...

"The two young boys. They're probably just Genin. The oldest, if he is who I believe he is, he's a Jounin... not someone even you can easily deal with."

The young shinobi glared up at her master again, her eyes burning with desire to prove him wrong. "I could still take him."

Her master chuckled - a sinister chuckle, but a chuckle nonetheless. "I'm sure you could, Liyenn. But right now, I'm telling you to challenge the two boys. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master."

000

Kakashi and his group of Genin were heading home after their intense adventure at the Wave Country. After an experience like that one, Kakashi was hoping that his next few missions would be easy ones. Naruto would not agree with his hope, but, he wished it just the same. To make conversation with the three, much younger students, Kakashi was telling Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura some tips for their next battle. "You know, Naruto, maybe you and Sasuke should train together when you get home. It'll be good for the whole teamwork issue you have with each other." Naruto was about to say something to reject this thought when a girl stepped out in front of them. Each of them stopped, watching this girl as she approached them, her head of navy hair tilted to the side.

"I couldn't help but overhear that there's a teamwork issue within your group?" the girl said once she was in earshot, looking very innocent.

"Yes. There is." Kakashi replied slowly, watching the girl with caution, a million and one questions running through his mind.

"Maybe I can provide some assistance." she suggested, walking around the two young men, sizing them up. "A challenge, maybe?" Her long locks of navy hair blew gently in the breeze, her focus currently on Sakura.

The Jounin eyed her, watching her even more carefully. Something definitely seemed off about this girl, he just couldn't figure out what. "What exactly did you have in mind?" he asked her, looking as though he was ready to draw a kunai from his leg band.

She turned to him, watching his movements with her icy blue eyes. He didn't trust her, not that she could blame him. Would anyone? A strange girl, showing up out of nowhere to offer training assistance? Really? Who would trust that? "Disarmament. That's all. The first team to lose all of their weapons, loses the match." she explained, walking away from the three Genin to face all three of them.

"Umm... sounds interesting enough, but what's in it for you?"

She only shrugged, "Well, I get the extra training, as well." the girl replied with a small smile. "A good fight to keep me in shape, if you will."

Kakashi, though still wary of where this could end up, turned to Naruto and Sasuke. "What do you guys think?" he asked, despite already knowing the answer. "Would you like to compete against this girl?"

"Anything that lets me prove myself against Sasuke!" proclaimed the blonde boldly, tossing his arms wildly into the air.

"I guess this would be a good exercise. Besides, you'll be bugging me about it later if I don't agree with it anyway." Sasuke answered, his words solemn, but almost bitter.

Their sensei sighed before turning to the girl, a nervous smile on his hidden lips. "I guess you've got yourself a match."

"Great!" the girl exclaimed. Naruto, Sasuke, and the girl moved to a nearby open, grassy field; the ideal battleground. "Are you two ready?" she asked, fingering the end of a kunai.

"You better believe I'm ready!" Naruto replied, adjusting his headband with a wide grin. Watching him, his enthusiasm and his confidence, the slightly older girl couldn't help but shake her head and smile. What a positive outlook he must've had.

Sazuke tisked, tapping the tip of his foot against the grassy earth, "Yeah, let's just get this over with."

"Remember, this is just a disarmament match. You don't need to get brutal with her!" Kakashi yelled to the boys. 'Yeah, yeah' and 'Right, whatever' were the only replies he received. The Copy Ninja sighed, hanging his head as he led Sakura a safe distance away. This was going to be a long battle if Sasuke and Naruto didn't learn to work together.

Naruto and Sasuke both drew their kunai, each performing a different battle stance. The girl looked at them with a small, but devilish smile. "This is going to be like nothing you've ever seen before." she warned, her voice purring.

"Hey, Sasuke. What do you think she means by that?" Naruto asked with a grin, glancing to his comrade.

"Heh, I don't know. But, after what we were just put through, I don't think there's much that can surprise us anymore." Sasuke answered with his trademark smirk, glancing back.

She smirked herself, _Cocky bastards, aren't they?_ Before either of them knew what happened, the girl was between them, holding a kunai to each of their necks. "Wow, you boys are slow." she purred, grazing each of their Adam's apples with the sharpened edges. "I don't know what you two were just put through, but there's no way in hell you could see this coming."

"Wha-?" They turned, and both received kicks in the stomach.

"Oh no! They've been hit!" Sakura cried, covering her mouth with her hands.

"That's it, Liyenn. Keep it up and your hard work will pay off." said a male voice from the opposite side of the playing field.

Startled, the pink haired ninja tore her gaze away from the match, her curious eyes settling on the newcomer. Or... was he there the entire time? She couldn't be certain. "Kakashi-sensei? Who is that man?" Sakura asked, looking up to her silver-haired teacher.

"I don't know. But... he does look oddly familiar." was how he replied to her question. He too was studying this new man, wondering what his connection to the girl was. Judging from the sinister smile across his wicked face, this man was the one to set up this match; not the girl.

Naruto and Sasuke were trying everything they could think of, each of them throwing out their own techniques, despite what the other was doing. It was no use. She would either overcome the technique or throw one of them in to take the blow for her. It was really starting to look bad, for their egos more than anything. This girl was... _beating them_! Pretty soon, they would lose their weapons, along with the match. "You think you've got it bad now. Wait until my final move. You'll be very surprised." She chuckled, watching them squirm through narrowed eyes. Oh, great, now she was taunting them too.

"Argh! ... Sasuke, what are we suppose to do? Nothing's working!" Naruto moaned, favoring a tender rib. His opponent may have been a girl, but she hit hard. In fact, he couldn't tell whose punches hurt more - this strange new girl's or Sakura's.

"I don't know, Naruto. But, Kakashi's right. We've got to start working together if we want to win this." the raven haired Genin stated in between his panting. His eyes wandered around, looking for anything that would give him an idea, to give him or Naruto an opening.

And the girl laughed again. "Now, it's time for one of my specialties!" Her fingers and hands twisted to form multiple different signs, all before slamming the heel of her palm onto the ground beneath her. "_Katon: Fenikkusu Gogyouhei_!" Her opponents, the spectators, neither of them even got the chance to blink. A circle of fire surrounded them; Naruto, Sasuke, and the girl herself.

"What?" Neither of the boys couldn't do anything, the wall of fire surrounded them. This was not genjutsu - an illusion was more than they could only hope for. No, these flames were very real. They were burning the grass within 20 inches away from the wall. To make the best of it, the mysterious girl had disappeared and they were trapped. "Oh, great. She sets a fire and then leaves us to burn in it!" Naruto cried angrily, panic arising in him. Meanwhile, his comrade was still looking around, but this time trying to see if there was any way out. _Where did she go? How did she get out if we can't?_ Sasuke wondered. Then, before his very eyes, she came through the flames, charging towards them.

"What?" Naruto exclaimed, flabbergasted. "She can walk through fire?" The blonde shinobi paused and thought about it for a moment or two. "Ya know, this would be a really cool technique if it wasn't being used against us!"

"Naruto, this isn't the time for that." Sasuke stated angrily, dodging kunai between his words. "Listen, I think I know how we can beat her. She hides herself within the fire, right?"

Cocking his head to the side, he nodded, slightly confused. What was Sasuke getting at? "Yeah...?"

Dodging yet another kunai, he growled his response, "Well, all we need to do is flush her out of the fire!"

"Oh, okay! I got it!" At the same time, they both began to throw explosive tags into the wall of flames, all of them exploding as soon as they touched the unbearable heat. Their plan worked; it flushed the girl out of the flames and into the circle with Naruto and Sasuke. As she coughed and got to her feet, the man behind her started to speak.

"Come on, Liyenn! Do you want the extra money or not?" he was yelling, disappointment and anger ringing in his deep voice.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, glaring at him with so much hatred it would have made any normal person cringe. "I'm doing my best, Master!" she barked back, praying the Genin before her would not take the opportunity to strike her down. Too much was on the line...

He smirked, almost wickedly. "Well, your best won't get your mother's money, now will it, if you lose?" he told her, watching her very carefully. It was almost like he _wanted_ her to lose this fight, almost like he _wanted_ to watch her suffer further. She ground her teeth together, trying to fight back words, or maybe even actions. Naruto watched the exchange between his opponent and the man, some of the dots connecting in his head. She wasn't fighting on her own will. She was fighting to gather money... for her mother? She turned her full attention back to Naruto and Sasuke, the hatred she felt for that man focused on them. If she couldn't beat the crap out of him, she had someone else to beat on in the meantime. As she stared them down, Sasuke started running towards her.

"Sasuke! Wait!" Naruto yelled out suddenly, catching just about everyone by surprise. Sasuke stopped, mostly out of shock, and Naruto turned his soft blue orbs to his opponent. "Do you need to knock our weapons away, or can we just drop them?"

She stared at Naruto with a surprised look, wondering what he was planning to do next. Was this some kind of trick? But, he did nothing, only thrown his weapons down at her feet. "What?" she asked in confusion. She couldn't understand. Why did he do that?

He shrugged off her confusion, folding his arms behind his head. "You needed us to drop our weapons. And, well, I've dropped mine. That means you win."

"Tsk, how disappointing..." the man grunted as the fire wall came down. He spat as he approached them, his gaze hard. "Here's your pay, Liyenn. Just as I promised you. I expect to see you within a week." He dropped a bag in front of the girl, turned on his heel and walked away.

When he was out of sight and earshot, the slightly older shinobi turned to Naruto, staring him down, studying him. He was gazing at her with a look she wasn't overly familiar with - sympathy. "Why did you do that? I didn't ask for your help!" she snapped, the sound of anger ringing in her voice.

"You didn't have to. You were doing this to help someone who you cared about. It's enough to make me want to help you." replied the blonde Genin, shrugging. "You were trying to get money for your mom, right?" She glanced away, nodding lightly. "See? What more reason do I need?"

"Thank you." was all she could manage to say to him. It... surprised her, more than anything. Here was this complete stranger, someone she literally met on the street, helping her with a situation he didn't fully understand. He only needed to hear what her main goal was. People didn't do that. Not normal people, at least... right? Before she noticed, the others had gather around, completely encircling her. She gazed up at each of them.

"My name is Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." the blonde said, finally introducing himself. He smiled brightly down on her, his demeanor so... captivating that she couldn't help but smile a little in return.

"I'm Haruno Sakura." chided the pink-haired female, smiling sweetly as well.

"Uchiha Sasuke." was all she got from the other male Genin.

"And, I'm Hatake Kakashi. But, more importantly... who are you? And, where do you come from?" the older Copy Ninja asked.

She turned to each of them as they introduced themselves, but, when her icy eyes finally settled on Kakashi, she spoke; "My name is Liyenn. I'm from Morigakure no sato."

* * *

**Justu Translation:**

_Katon: Fenikkusu Gogyouhei_ - Also known as Phoenix Fire Wall. This technique is one that only Liyenn can perform, with the help of the Phoenix. Using her fire abilities, Liyenn creates a wall of flame that surrounds herself and her opponent(s). It is similar to Haku's Crystal Ice Mirrors.

**Morigakure no sato** - Hidden Village in the Forest


	2. The Memory

**A/N:** Yay! Chapter two is here!

* * *

**Chapter Two:**

**The Memory**

Liyenn began to walk away. Naruto followed her, being very curious of where Liyenn was from. "Where is this village of yours?" Naruto asked her.

"About a mile and an half away from here." Liyenn answered, continuing in her direction.

"Wait a minute!"

Liyenn turned and looked to see who said it. It was Kakashi. "Yes?" she replied.

"There's no way you could be from Morigakure no sato!"

"Huh?" Naruto and the others looked at Kakashi, asking him for his explanation.

"Morigakure no sato is just a myth." Kakashi explained.

"Really?" Sakura asked.

"Well, nobody has ever been able to find it. Nobody can prove the village is really there." Kakashi answered.

"Well, if nobody knew about it in the first place, how could people know about it has a myth?" Liyenn asked, challenging Kakashi's logic.

"Somebody I knew used to tell me about the legend of the village." Kakashi answered.

"Really?" Liyenn asked, looking a bit surprised.

"Yeah, he always used to tell me and my team that it was magical place."

"Oh? Who was he? Maybe I would know him." Liyenn asked.

"I don't think so. He was before your time." Kakashi said. "He was my sensei's friend. He used to help out with us for years."

"What was his name?" Naruto asked.

"He was one of Konoha's best. Ogokasi Kenshin."

Liyenn froze when she heard the name. "What did you say?" she asked, turning around to face him.

"Ogokasi Kenshin. Why?"

"He was a sensei?" Liyenn asked with a small, but sad smile.

"Yeah. Kenshin-sensei was the best. He would always tell us stories about his missions and about the village you said you were from." Kakashi explained. "He was like a father to us."

"How long has it been since you seen him?" Sakura asked.

"Well, almost eight years. I don't know why." Kakashi answered. "He's probably too busy to even worry about us anymore. Specially since his friend died." Kakashi said thoughtfully.

"Yondaime." said a whisper.

Kakashi looked and seen that it was Liyenn's voice he heard. "Yeah. How did you know that?"

"Because I knew him. Kenshin-san. He's from my village." Liyenn answered. Naruto saw her flinch when she said 'Kenshin-san'.

"Oh? Maybe you know what happened to him." Kakashi said in a questioning matter.

"Yeah, I do." Liyenn said quietly.

"Well? Can you tell me?" Kakashi asked impatiently.

"He's..." Liyenn paused to sigh. "He died." she finished heavily.

"What?! When? How?"

"He was assassinated. He was the leader of my village, so he knew where it's greatest treasure was. Instead of giving up the treasure, Kenshin-san choose death." She paused, then smiled sadly before she continued. "He was supposed to be the fifth Hokage. But he died before he had a chance."

Kakashi sighed heavily. "I've really missed him." He paused and looked at Liyenn. "What was this treasure? And why didn't he just give it up." Kakashi asked.

"He knew where the spirit of the Phoenix lived. That's what they wanted from him. The Phoenix's power."

"The Phoenix?" Sasuke asked, looking as confused as the others.

"The Phoenix was a mythically creature that fell from the sky, 1000 years ago." Liyenn began explaining. "She had done something to disrespect her father. Ever since, she's been here. Somebody, a woman from the Ogokasi clan, found her and taught her the ways of the human. As a result, the woman's clan was known as the 'Star Fire' Clan. Not because of their abilities, but because of what they did for the village." Liyenn looked up at the trees. "The Phoenix used the strange chakra that surrounded the village and compressed it into crystals. These crystals are what keeps the village hidden. Anyway, the Phoenix died." Liyenn finished bluntly.

"Wait. How does a mythically creature die?" Sakura asked.

"After living among mortals for so long, you eventually become mortal. The year I was born, a small thunder cat-demon attacked the village. The Phoenix was already weaken considerable, so she used the last of her strength to do two more acts; the kill the demon, and to seal her soul inside her favourite child." Liyenn explained, looking tired.

"So, Kenshin-sensei was protecting this child?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah." Liyenn answered sadly.

That was it. Naruto had enough. He had to ask her something. "Liyenn?"

"Yeah, Naruto?"

"Why does Kenshin-san's death affect you?" Naruto asked sternly.

"What do you mean?" Liyenn asked, shocked by his question.

"Whenever you say 'Kenshin-san', you flinch. When you told us how he died, you looked like you were gonna cry." Naruto stated. Liyenn looked down at the ground. _He noticed my facial features changing? No one has ever noticed any change in me... before._

"Well? Are you going to answer me?" Naruto asked, forcing Liyenn to look at him.

"I remember that day so well." she whispered. Everyone gasped in shock.

* * *

_-Flashback-_

It was a beautiful day in the Hidden Forest Village. The sunlight made everything sparkle. Plus, there wasn't a breeze of wind. It would be the perfect day to practice.

"Today, we're going to have a target practice." Kenshin said, smiling.

"Ok, Daddy. Where are you gonna make the targets?" a six year-old Liyenn asked. Kenshin had taken the girl to the nearby riverside, just outside the village. It was their favourite place to spend time and train together.

Kenshin walked over to a tree and craved an X with his kunai. "There." he said, pointing at the X.

They started training. Liyenn's kunai would either miss the tree completely or just miss the target, and Kenshin's kunai would hit his target, one after the other.

"Daddy! That's not fair!" Liyenn pouted.

"Why isn't it, sweetie?" Kenshin asked.

"You're better than me. You're gonna hit your targets. You don't need the practice." Liyenn whined.

Kenshin laughed. "And what, pray tell, do you think I should be doing?" Kenshin asked her, raising an eyebrow. He knew exactly what the answer was going to be.

Liyenn gave a giant grin. "You should be helping me!" Liyenn said cheerfully.

"Alright. Alright." Kenshin said, smiling. _She's so cute when she does that. Sad thing is, she knows I can't resist._

After about twenty minutes of trying to teach Liyenn how to relax her arm when she throws, Liyenn finally got it. She threw her kunai perfectly. When it hit the wood, the point of the kunai was on the centre of the X. As the kunai hit, Kenshin heard a noise, but past it off as an animal in the forest. They cheer for a minute before he heard it again. This time, it was louder. Kenshin perked up to listen more carefully. This was a look Liyenn was all too familiar with.

"What is it, Daddy?" Liyenn asked, looking puzzled and frightened.

"It's ok, Liyenn. I want you to go into the village and gather a few of the shinobi. Alright?" Kenshin looked at her. Fear was written on her face.

"Ok, Daddy." Liyenn said as she turned around and ran towards the village.

"Be careful and hurry back!" Kenshin called to her.

Liyenn ran into the village all in a panic. One of the villagers saw Liyenn and asked her what was wrong. "Daddy heard something in the forest and told me and gather the shinobi in the village right away." Liyenn explained.

"What?!" the villager gasped. The village's shinobi were instantly summoned. It took only five minutes to get back to Kenshin. But, sadly, it was a few minutes too late.

"Kenshin-san..." some of the shinobi murmured. But a young girl, who didn't yet understand the concept of death, ran towards Kenshin.

"Daddy. I brought the shinobi like you wanted." Liyenn said, looking down at her father's body. He was lying there, his body limp. The gaping wounds in his chest were over flowing with blood. "Daddy?" the little girl whispered.

"Liyenn, sweetie?" Kenshin opened his eyes.

"Daddy?" Liyenn said, now kneeling over his body.

"Liyenn. My darling little girl. Be good for your mother..." Kenshin said, his eyes slowly drooping.

"Daddy?!" Liyenn cried.

Kenshin didn't have strength to speak anymore. But he did managed to mouth the words 'I love you... Liyenn.' His eyes closed.

"Daddy?" Liyenn said, her eyes swelling with tears. "Daddy?" She shook him gently. "Daddy, wake up." She repeated this, over and over again. When she finally realized that he wasn't getting up, despite her attempts, she began to sob. Liyenn lifted her father's arm around herself so it would be like he was hugging her one last time. She pressed herself against him, despite the blood gusting out of his wounds.

A man walked over and placed two fingers on Kenshin's throat. The man looked up at the others sadly and reported, "He's dead."

A heavily sigh came from the people. "Someone needs to summon Daiki-san and Yokomo-san." one said.

"Poor Yokomo-san. First her son, then her brother and his family, and now this." said another.

"Who will fetch them?"

"I will. But what about the child?"

"Leave her until her mother comes."

"Something like this is not for a child to see." one of them said angrily, as the another left to fetch the wife and monk. The rest muttered their agreement. About ten minutes later, Daiki and Yokomo were there. Yokomo was already obviously crying, with Daiki trying the soothe her. They looked and saw Liyenn cuddling into the body. They walked over to Liyenn and Kenshin.

"Liyenn, sweetie?" Yokomo said through her tears.

"Momma?" she asked. Liyenn looked up at her mother. Yokomo and Daiki gasped. When she looked up, Yokomo and Daiki saw the wounds on Kenshin's chest. But this wasn't what they were gasping at. Poor little Liyenn was covered in blood. This was obviously from cuddling into her father's bloody corpse. Her face was stained, along with her clothes and hair. There was so much blood, Liyenn's skin, hair and clothing shimmered in the light. "Momma? He won't wake up." Liyenn said as two big tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Oh, Liyenn." Yokomo said, moving the hug her little girl, stopping only because Daiki stopped her.

"Don't touch her until she has been cleaned. If not, you'll both attract scavengers." Daiki stated. Then he turned to the women. "Clean her. In the river, if you must. She must not keep her father's blood on her for too long." The women nodded in agreement.

They moved to Liyenn. Before they could do anything, the women had to pry Liyenn's grip from her father's body. After they finally got her loose, they stripped her down and dunked her into the river. They cleaned her, wrapped her in a towel, and handed the child to her mother. There, Liyenn cuddled into her mother and her sobbing started again.

"My poor child." Yokomo whispered. She, too, was crying. Not only for herself this time, but for Liyenn as well.

Daiki asked the shinobi, "Did Kenshin-san say anything before he died, like the name of his killer, or anything?"

"I'm sorry, Daiki-san. Kenshin-san's final words are her's alone." one of the men replied, nodding towards Liyenn.

Daiki sighed. "So, she was the last one to hear him?" Daiki asked.

"Yes, Daiki-san."

Yokomo took Liyenn home then. It was going to be a very long night... for the both of them.

* * *

"And, that was it." Liyenn said, finishing her story. Everyone was silent. Especially Naruto. _Now I regret making her tell us..._

"So, do anyone know who killed him?" Kakashi asked.

"I caught a glimpse of him when he left, but not enough to actually describe what he looked like." Liyenn said heavily. It sounded like she wanted to cry.

"I'm sorry for your lost, Liyenn." Sakura said.

"Yeah, me too." Sasuke said to agree.

"Kenshin-sensei. I've missed him. At least I know he went for a purpose. He was, indeed, a great man." Kakashi said.

Naruto looked at Kakashi with the 'well-you-just-shut-up' expression. "I think we all get the point now, Kakashi-sensei." He turned to Liyenn. "I'm really sorry, too. For making you tell us." Naruto said, looking really sympathic.

Liyenn sighed. "It's alright. You've would've been told about it anyway when we get to the village."

The next half an hour was walked in silence. Naruto felt really bad about what he did, and he wasn't sure that Liyenn really believed him. She was walking a few feet ahead of them, so he ran to catch up with her. "Hey? Liyenn?"

She looked at him. "What? Is there something wrong?" Liyenn asked him, sounded a little annoyed.

"Well, I wasn't sure if you believed me when I told you I was sorry." Naruto said.

"What? Of course I believed you. Why wouldn't I?" Liyenn asked, her facial expression turning softer.

"Well, you didn't exactly _act_ like you believed me, and I really felt bad about it." Naruto said.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. It's just been hard for me to show any emotion, of any kind."

"Why?"

"My senseis told me that showing emotions is a sign of weakness. The perfect chance for the opponent to strike."

"But, emotions make you human. They make you alive."

"Just because I don't show them, doesn't mean I don't feel them, Naruto."

"So, who are your senseis? And who was that man that was with you?" Naruto asked.

"I was almost positive that your sensei - what's his name, Kakashi, is it?" Naruto nodded. "Well, I'm surprised he didn't already ask." Liyenn walked a little ways before explaining anymore. "That man was my Master. He has a name that I do not know, for he simply 'Master-sama' to me. He came to our village two years ago and asked me to work for him." She paused, waiting for Naruto to ask questions.

"But, I thought you said that the village was hidden?" Naruto asked, now sounding utterly confused.

Liyenn giggled at his confusion. "Yes, Naruto. I did say that my village was hidden. But -" She paused and looked up at the trees. "He somehow managed to find it."

"So, anyway?" Naruto said, wanting Liyenn to continue her story.

"So, anyway. I agreed to his offer since my mother and I were in a need for money and I've been working for him since." Liyenn finished.

"What kind of stuff do you do for him?"

"Oh, just little things." Liyenn answered quickly.

"Like dueling and stuff? Or other missions too?"

"Dueling, other missions, the works. Basically whatever needs to been done that my senseis can't attend to at the moment."

Liyenn and Naruto talked the rest of the way there. Naruto would ask Liyenn more about the Phoenix, while Liyenn would ask Naruto about his home village and why he was away from it. Naruto excitedly explained his and his comrades' victory over the Water Country's rogue ninja, Zabuza and the ice user, Haku.

Moments later, the small group came across old ruins that appeared to be part of a once big and thriving village. There was a big building the appeared to be a school and even an old, rusty swing set. Everyone, but Liyenn, looked at it in awe.

"Liyenn? Where are we?" Kakashi asked, stunned in amazement. _How could nobody knew this was here?!_

"We are currently at the ruins of most of my village. What remains of it is behind here." Liyenn said, pointing towards a tree.

"But, I don't see anything." Sasuke said.

"How are we suppose to enter a village if we can't see it?" Sakura asked.

Liyenn moved towards the tree and dug into the tall grass around it. Sitting there, was a small Buddha statue with the Leaf insignia craved into its head. In its hands, was a small, amber crystal. It shimmer as light reflected off of it. Liyenn performed a few hand signs and touch the statue on the head. "You guys should link yourselves with me, or else you won't be able to get in." Starting with Sasuke, they all linked together, with Naruto on the end. Then, before their eyes, a small village appeared like magic. Liyenn stood up and gave the four a smile before saying, "Welcome to my home."

* * *

**People Introduced:**

**Ogokasi Kenshin** - Liyenn's father, deceased leader of the Hidden Forest Village, and head of the Ogokasi family. A kind and gentle man who loved his family more than anything else in the world. He was also good friends with Yondaime. Although this is the only time you'll actually _see_ him, Kenshin's death is a very important part of Liyenn's past and present.

**Ogokasi Yokomo** - Liyenn's mother and wife to Kenshin. There will be more about her in later chapters.

**Daiki** - The village monk. Was very good friends with the Ogokasi family. There will be more about him in later chapters.

**Jutsu Used:**

_None_

**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed it! And thanks for reading it.


	3. Inside the Village, Meeting New People

**A/N:** Well, haven't gotten any reviews yet, but oh well. Here's chapter three for the people who have read it.

* * *

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Three**

**Inside the Village, Meeting New People**

Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke entered the village behind Liyenn, amazed by what had just happened. An entire village had just magically appeared before them. None of them could explain how it happened.

The village was extremely small. There, in the centre, was a giant building which Naruto assumed to be a temple of some sort. On one side of the village, there were homes, the other had a hospital and a orphanage. Close to the exit, there was a small hut with a graveyard behind it. There were too many head stones to count, which Kakashi assumed that most were the causalities of the thunder-cat demon's attack. On the other side, closest to the exit, was a garden, where they all assumed was where the village grew their crops. All in all, the village seem to be maintained extremely well. As the walked in, a group of children ran towards them.

"Liyenn-chan! You're home!" one of them said, hugging into her.

Liyenn hugged the child back. "Yes, I'm home Hana." Liyenn said. The little girl then let go of Liyenn and her and her friends ran through the village.

"Liyenn-chan's home! Liyenn-chan's home!" they all called.

One man smiled at this remark as he walked to meet Liyenn. "It's nice to see you again, Liyenn-chan." he said, greeting her.

"The same with you, Daiki-san." Liyenn bowed graciously to him. She looked up at him from her bow. "I've brought company." she said, pointing towards the group of people behind her.

"Yes. I can see. It's been a while since this village seen any outsiders." He turned to them. "My name is Daiki. I'm this village's monk. I'm happy to be the first to greet you to our home." Daiki said, smiling at them all, then bowing slightly.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi of Konoha. It's a honor to be able to see such a magically place." Kakashi said, returning the bow. "These are my students. Uchiha Saskue, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura." Each of them bowed as their name was said.

"So, how did you meet Liyenn-chan? It's not like her to bring strangers home from her travels." Daiki asked, walking away from the child surrounded Liyenn. All of them were asking her about what she had seen on her newest journey. Kakashi and Sakura followed Daiki while Naruto and Sasuke stayed with Liyenn.

"She challenged Naruto and Sasuke on our way back from the Wave Country." Kakashi began to explained.

"Let me guess. She was with a man, wasn't she?" Daiki asked, a hint disgust was in his words.

"Yeah. Why?" Sakura asked.

"That man is a man without a name. He came to our village two years ago and asked Liyenn-chan to work for him. He used the family situation to his advantage. I know, just as well as everyone in this village that he is only after the Phoenix's spirit." Daiki explained.

"What situation?" Kakashi asked.

"Liyenn-chan never told you?" Kakashi and Sakura both shook their heads. Daiki sighed. "Liyenn-chan's mother is very sick. She had been sick since Liyenn-chan was seven. Since Yokomo-san couldn't work or support herself and Liyenn-chan, Liyenn-chan was forced to go to work. Not only did Liyenn-chan work in the gardens and cook meals for herself and her mother, Liyenn-chan was training. After Kenshin-san - Liyenn-chan's father - died, Liyenn-chan started training herself. Then that man showed up. She had been working for him ever since, only because she's getting money to help pay for her mother's treatments." Daiki explained. He released a heavy sigh.

"And, how old is Liyenn?" Sakura asked.

"Why, she's thirteen years of age." Daiki answered.

"Thirteen and working like she does. That's a bit much. Aren't the village people helping out?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course we are. It's just Liyenn-chan wants to help and this is the only way she knows how." Daiki sighed again. "The child needs friends, not masters and senseis."

_

* * *

__Meanwhile..._

"Liyenn-chan! What did you see this time?!" Hana asked with excitement.

"Lots of stuff! Too much to explain." Liyenn said, smiling at the children.

"Aww, c'mon, Liyenn-chan! Can't you spare some details?" a young boy whined.

"I'm sorry, Hiroshi. Not today. Maybe some other day."

"Promise?" the group looked at her, all with pouting lips.

"Yes, I promise." Liyenn said. A loud 'Yay!' came from them. Two little girls were eyeing Sasuke with interest. "Hanako? Haruka? What are you doing?" Liyenn asked them.

"Who is he?" Hanako said, looking at Liyenn but pointing at Sasuke. Sasuke groaned.

"This is Uchiha Sasuke of Konoha. He came here with me."

"Really? How long is he staying for?" Haruka asked, still staring at Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at Liyenn with the 'these kids are annoying' look. Liyenn sighed. "They're only going to be here for two days at the most."

"Aww." Both girls pouted.

"Well, he needs to go home and train to become a better shinobi." Liyenn said. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Huh? He's a shinobi?" one boy piped up.

"Yes, Kiyoshi. He's a shinobi." Liyenn answered.

"I bet he can't beat you." Kiyoshi retorted.

"Yeah. I'm with him." said another young boy.

Liyenn giggled. "Well, I don't know about that, Kiyoshi."

"Well, I think he's right." said the other boy.

"Why do you say that, Kenji?" Liyenn asked the boy, kneeling down to his height.

The young boy blushed. "Well... you're the best, Liyenn-chan. You're stronger than onii-san and you didn't go to the academy. And Kuro-onii-san was the number one Genin in the academy."

Liyenn smiled at this. "Aww, thanks, Kenji. That means a lot."

Hana was looking at Naruto. Naruto looked at the little girl. "What? Is there something wrong?"

"No, but I was wondering who you are. I know you're from Konoha because you wear the Leaf insignia, but I don't know who you are." Hana said.

"Wow. You're really smart." Naruto said. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto."

"Are you Liyenn-chan's friend?" Hana asked him.

"Well, I guess you can say that."

"What? Little Liyenn's got herself a friend? You must not know her very well." said a male voice from behind him. He made Naruto jump.

He was a tall boy, with long, dark hair tied into a pony tail. His eyes were a pale green and his skin was a little dark. He was a little taller than Sasuke and he had an attitude as well. You could tell from the sound of his voice that he was up to no good.

"Wh-what? Who are you?" Naruto asked after catching his breathe.

Liyenn looked up. She gave an angry sigh. "Oh, it's you. Umeko Kuro." Liyenn said, giving him an evil look.

"You finally got yourself a little friend, did ya?" Kuro retorted, staring Naruto down.

"Hey! What's that suppose to mean, you -"

"Naruto, stop. This is between me and him." Liyenn said, stopping him in mid sentence.

"Kenji! Where were you?! Mother was starting to get worried!" Kuro yelled at Kenji.

"Sorry, Onii-san. I was with my friends and Liyenn-chan came home, so I went to see her." Kenji said, being very quiet.

Kuro sighed angrily. "You're not suppose to go anywhere without Mother's, Father's, or my permission."

"I said I was sorry, Onii-san." Kenji said, he sounded like he was going to cry.

"Kuro! Take it easy. He only eight years old!" Liyenn yelled, frowning at Kuro. She went over to Kenji and hugged him. "When was this rule put in place? It wasn't there when I took him to the river last time I came home. I talked to his mother afterwards and she said I could take him any time I wanted to. I didn't need to ask her if it was going to be inside the village." Liyenn said, looking smug.

"Well, he..." Kuro searched for words. Before he could say anything, Kenji had piped up.

"Mother never said I needed your permission for anything. She said it was Onee-chan I needed permission from." he said, almost in tears.

"That's exactly what she said." said a girl's voice, causing Naruto to jump again. When they looked, it was Etsuko, Kuro's and Kenji's older sister. She, too, had the pale green eyes, the long, dark hair, and the tanned complection. Her hair was tied into a high pony tail and had ribbons flowing from the tie she was using to keep it up.

"Etsuko." Liyenn said.

"Welcome home, Liyenn-chan. Tell me, is my brother causing you any trouble?" Etsuko asked her.

"Thank you. And, no, he wasn't causing any trouble, 'cause I was about to leave. But thanks for asking, just the same." Liyenn said. She then turned, and began to walk away. Naruto and Sasuke followed her. As she walked further, she could heard Etsuko and Kuro arguing. Liyenn couldn't help but smirk.

"Hey, Liyenn? Who was that?" Naruto asked as he and Sasuke caught up to her.

"That was Umeko Kuro. He's the middle child of the Umeko clan. Unfortunately, he's also my worse enemy." _Well, besides myself..._ she added to herself.

"Like a rival?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, I guess you could say that." Liyenn said. "Not only that, but he hasn't been the kindest to me and he pretty much hates me."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Well, I was favoured by the Phoenix, I am the heir to the Ogokasi clan which makes me the future leader of this village, and I refused to go out with him." Naruto and Sasuke both gave a highly shocked look. "That's right. Well, I guess I didn't refuse, I was just too young. I was nine when he wanted me."

"How could he hate you for that?! You probably didn't even know what 'being in a relationship' was." Naruto stated, still shocked by what she had said.

"I don't really know. But he attacked me while I was training one day, but it wasn't the kind of attack I was use to."

"What kind of attack was it?" Sasuke asked.

"Back then, I wouldn't've understood what it was. When I told my sensei about it, he explained to me what it was."

"So, what was it?"

"My sensei told me that it would've been rape."

Sasuke stopped in his tracks and Naruto released an angry gasp. "That bastard!" Naruto retorted.

"How'd you get away from him?" Sasuke asked. "I mean, he's bigger than you. He should've been able to overpower you, right?"

"SASUKE! WHAT ARE YOU - " Naruto began.

"It's ok, Naruto. Well, Sasuke, we saw something in the forest. An abnormally large black panther attacked him and scared Kuro off."

"Well, saved by the cat, is it?"

"Well, yeah. Anyway, the panther looked at me, and then took off. I haven't seen it since."

They walked a little ways in silence, nobody knowing what to say next. Before they knew it, Liyenn had led them to a riverside. While both boys were wondering what the hell they were doing there, Liyenn walked over to a tree that had a rusty kunai stuck into it. Naruto and Sasuke walked behind her, hoping to find an explanation. "It's still here." Liyenn said, stroking the tree. She then bent down to pick some flowers out of the ground.

She walked over to a small bridge that led to an island in the middle of the riverbed. There, in the middle of the island, stood a large tree. Before stepping onto the island, Liyenn removed her footwear. Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other, not sure of what to do next. They decided, silently, to follow Liyenn's actions. They followed Liyenn to the tree, where she was now knelt in front of. In front of Liyenn, laid a small headstone with "OGOKASI KENSHIN" craved into it.

"This is my father's grave." Liyenn said, beginning the explanation that she knew Naruto and Sasuke were waiting for. "This ground is sacred to me and my mother, which is why I removed my footwear before treading on this ground. He was the leader of our village, a powerful shinobi, and good friend to all, but most importantly, he was a great and beloved husband and father." Liyenn explained. She may not have wanted it, but Naruto could see through the mask she was wearing. Although there was none, Naruto could see the tears that made her heart so heavy. Even Sasuke could tell that she wanted to cry but probably wouldn't because him and Naruto were there.

Before they act, Liyenn stood and moved towards the bridge. She gave them a small smile and said, "Let's go now. I need to go see my mother."

* * *

**People Introduced:**

**Children of the Village:** Hana, Hiroshi, Hanako, Haruka, & Kiyoshi. These are the young ones of the Hidden Forest Village. Ranging from ages 6-8, they are all friends with each other and Kenji.

**Umeko Siblings:** Etsuko, Kuro, & Kenji. Etsuko is the oldest and is highly respected in the village. Kuro is the middle child and the village jerk. He liked Liyenn(as we could probably guess) for a while. Kenji is the youngest. He's a sweet little kid who tries to impress his mother, father, and older sister. He's not too fond of his brother. Kenji loves spending time with his friends and loves hearing stories from Liyenn.

**Jutsu Used:**

_None_

**A/N: **Well, that's the end of chapter three. Thanks for reading this far.


	4. A Babysitting Memory

**A/N:** Still no reviews -sniffle- Well, chapter four's up and running for those who been reading my story. Again, thank you for reading as far as you did.

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**Chapter Four:**

**A Babysitting Memory**

"So, Liyenn-chan never mentioned to you about her mother's illness?" Daiki asked.

"No, she didn't. Liyenn didn't say there was anything wrong with her mother." Kakashi answered.

"But, she told you about her father?" Daiki asked, seeming extremely doubtful.

"Well, actually, Liyenn only told us that because Kakashi-sensei kept talking about him." Sakura answered.

"You knew Kenshin-san?"

"Yes. He was my sensei's best friend and often taught us and went on missions with us." Kakashi explained.

"Ah, Kenshin-san's Konoha life." Daiki said, now a little more understanding. "He was suppose to become the new Hokage when the Third went back into retirement. But, unfortunately, things don't always happen the way we except it to." Daiki said.

"Yeah. Liyenn was telling us about that. Hey, Daiki-san?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?"

"If this village is hidden, how did they know where to look for Kenshin-san? I mean, when he was going to become Hokage." Sakura questioned.

"Well, a messenger bird came." Daiki chuckled at Sakura's confused sounding 'Huh?'. "Birds and other animals can enter our boundaries, whereas humans cannot."

"Oh, I get it."

"Yes, well, Kenshin-san was summoned to Konoha eight years ago by the Third. He was asked about the position when he got there." Daiki said.

"Kakashi-sensei? Didn't you say it was eight years since you seen him?"

"Yeah. I did say that."

"Oh, well then. You may already know Liyenn-chan. She went with him to Konoha that time. She was only five but she was determined to go with him."

"Oh really?"

"Oh yes. She wasn't supposed to be going. She was suppose to stay home with her mother, but she packed her bag and refused to let go of Kenshin-san's leg until he let her go." Daiki chuckled. "He finally gave in and took her with him, seeing how badly she wanted to go."

"So, she was a Daddy's little girl?"

"You could say that, Sakura-chan. She loved her father and wanted to go everywhere with him. When she came home from Konoha, she talked and talked all about her wonderful trip with Daddy."

Kakashi was frowning, like he was trying to remember something. "What is it, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I'm trying to remember if I saw Liyenn or not. I know I've seen Liyenn's face before, but I don't remember when."

_

* * *

-Flashback-_

"Kenshin-sensei! You actually came back!" a younger Kakashi said, seeing his sensei for the first time in four years. "I thought you were never coming back after what happened a few years ago."

"Well, Kakashi, I had some errands to run. I still do." Kenshin said, cupping Kakashi's shoulder. "I need you to do me a favor."

* * *

"That's it! I remember now!" Kakashi exclaimed. Daiki and Sakura were startled by Kakashi's sudden exclamation, considering they weren't paying attention to him.

* * *

_-Flashback-_

"I need you to do me a favor." Kenshin said, gripping Kakashi's shoulder a little tighter.

"Anything, sensei." Kakashi said, listening very closely for instructions.

"I'm here on business. I need someone to take care of my daughter." Kenshin said, releasing Kakashi.

"Huh? Your daughter?" Kakashi looked behind Kenshin. There, hiding from him, was a little navy-haired girl with bright, ice blue eyes. She looked a little frightened. "Oh, hello. My name's Kakashi. What's your name?" Kakashi asked her sweetly.

The girl just pressed against her father's leg, trying to shield herself from Kakashi. "This is Liyenn. She's five years old, and she's a little shy." Kenshin picked the child up into his arms. "I'm going to give you to Kakashi until I come back, okay?" Liyenn nodded. "I want you to be on your best behaviour." Kenshin gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek before handing her to Kakashi. "I'm counting on you, Kakashi. Don't let anything happen to her."

"I won't, sensei." Kakashi said, obediently. After Kenshin was out of earshot, Kakashi let off a sigh. "Kenshin-sensei's here in Konoha and I'm stuck here babysitting." He put Liyenn down and crouched down beside her. "Well, do you want to see Konoha?" he asked her. Liyenn nodded. Kakashi stood and started walking away. Liyenn didn't follow. He stopped and looked at her. "What?" he asked.

"Daddy told me to not go anywhere without taking the guardian's hand." she said to him. Kakashi blinked. _You can NOT be serious..._ But she was, as she held out her little hand for him to take it. _This is going to be a long day..._

Kakashi took Liyenn's hand before setting off to show her the village. It wasn't long before Kakashi had to stop Liyenn to make sure she didn't get run over by Konoha's most difficult orphan. The little blonde-haired boy ran by and was being chased by a young chuunin.

"Kakashi? What are you doing here? I thought you were on border duty." the chuunin said, stopping to catch his breath.

"I was, Iruka. But Kenshin-sensei came by and asked me to babysit his kid." Kakashi explained.

"His kid?" Iruka looked around. He hadn't noticed the small child that was holding on to Kakashi's hand up until now. "Aw, what a cute kid." Iruka said, crouching down to her height. "What's your name?" he asked her gently.

"My name is Liyenn." she whispered to him.

"What a pretty name." Iruka smiled at her. "I'm Iruka, I'm a friend of Kakashi."

Liyenn did a small bow. "Nice to meet you, Iruka." Liyenn said in a rather childish-sounding way. It was actually kind of cute.

Iruka patted Liyenn on the head and gave her a big smile. "It's nice to meet you, too, Liyenn."

Meanwhile, a particular blonde-haired boy was wondering why he wasn't being chased anymore. He went back from where had ran from and seen Iruka talking to a strange little girl. "Iruka?" he whispered, walking towards him, Kakashi, and the girl.

Iruka looked and noticed the boy coming towards him. "Argh, Naruto." Iruka groaned.

"You're on orphanage duty again?" Kakashi asked, looking at Naruto.

"Yeah. Hokage-sama seems to think it's the best job for me. Chasing Naruto around all day isn't exactly my idea of fun."

"Oh, c'mon, Iruka. He's only four years old. How hard could it be?"

"Well, it could be a lot harder if the other villagers were around."

"I guess you could be right."

"The poor boy. If only people would do what Yondaime wanted."

Kakashi and Iruka continued talking about how if Naruto was treated better he would behave better. Meanwhile, Liyenn looked at the blonde-haired boy with interest. It was the first young child she had seen since she entered the village. She let go of Kakashi's hand and went over to talk to him. "Hello." she said, greeting him.

"What do you want?" the boy asked her snottily.

"My name is Liyenn. What's your's?"

"I'm Uzamaki Naruto. Why?"

"I just wanted to know." She blinked and then smiled at Naruto.

"Oh, ok. So, what are you doing with that guy?"

"He's my babysitter until Daddy's done with his errands." Liyenn explained.

"He doesn't look much like a babysitter." Naruto commented.

"Liyenn! I thought you said you weren't allowed to go anywhere without taking someone's hand?" Kakashi said as he walked towards her and Naruto.

"Naruto, c'mon. Let's go back to the orphanage." Iruka said, holding his hand out for Naruto to take.

"Sorry, Kakashi." Liyenn said, holding her hand out. She looked at Naruto.

"How long are you here for?" Naruto asked her.

"I'm not sure how long Liyenn's staying for, but you should get back to the orphanage now, or you're going to have Hokage-sama very worried about you." Kakashi said as he took Liyenn's hand. Naruto nodded and reached for Iruka's. Kakashi and Liyenn waved at Naruto and Iruka as they started walking away. "C'mon, Liyenn, there's still lots of Konoha you haven't seen yet." Kakashi said.

"Ok." Liyenn said as she let Kakashi lead her away. She looked back at Naruto before she spoke again. "Kakashi?"

"Yes, Liyenn?" Kakashi looked down at her.

"Why does that boy have lines on his face?" She was frowning at the thought and poking at her own face as she spoke.

"Well, Liyenn, Naruto had those marks since he was born."

"Really? So, it's like a birth mark?"

"Well, sort of."

As the two continued walking, Kakashi ended up explaining how and why everything in the village worked. This went on for almost an hour. It only stopped because Kakashi saw another friend.

"Kohaku!" Kakashi called out to the navy-haired boy a few feet in front of them. The boy looked over as he was called. He smiled when he saw who it was.

"Kakashi!" Kohaku said, greeting him as they met. "Wow, this is a surprise. I thought you were suppose to be patrolling the borders today?"

"Yeah, I was. But I got called out for something more important."

"Oh really? What could be more important than border patrol?" Kohaku said, raising an eyebrow and sounding extremely doubtful.

"Well, babysitting." Kakashi asnwered.

Kohaku looked thoughtful. "Well, I guess you're right. Taking care of the village's youth is very important." Kohaku said. "But, I've only been living here for five years and even I know that nothing's more important than the safety of the entire village." Kohaku raised his hands over his head and rested them there. "So? Who's you babysitting? And who for?"

"Well, Kenshin-sensei came to the village. He asked me to babysit his daughter."

"Kenshin-sensei? His daughter?" Kohaku looked shocked. He looked down and saw the little child standing next to Kakashi.

"Yeah. He said he had some business to attend to and he asked me to babysit his kid while he was attending that business an-"

"What's her name?" Kohaku asked, cutting Kakashi off. He sounded extremely interested in the girl.

"What? Oh, her name?" Kakashi paused. Kohaku's interest in her was sudden and kind of worrisome "Her name is Liyenn."

Kohaku eyes widened. "Li...yenn?" He was shocked, and Kakashi couldn't figure out why. Kohaku had never been very easy to read, but this was strange, even for him.

Kohaku crouched down beside the girl. Liyenn looked at him and then smiled. "Your eyes are the same as mine." was what she said.

Kohaku smiled at her, his eyes softened when she said that. "Yes they are." he said. She giggled. "So, have you been behaving for Kakashi?" he asked her. Liyenn nodded.

"Gez, Kohaku, you sound like know the kid." Kakashi said, trying to see if Kohaku will tell him something.

"I don't know her, Kakashi. She just looks like someone I once knew. That's all." Kohaku said, standing up.

"I see." _What is with him? He never act this way around anyone. Nor has he mention anything about his past before. What does this girl mean to him? She must be part of his past... No, that couldn't be it. Things wouldn't add up then. Well, not with his story anyway..._

"Do you mind if I tagged along?" Kohaku asked, snapping Kakashi out of his train of thoughts.

"Oh? What? Sure. I don't mind."

"Ok. Thanks." Kohaku smiled.

Kakashi returned the smile from under his mask. _Why is Kohaku so interested in Liyenn?_ was all that Kakashi could think about.

The day went on and Kakashi and Kohaku ended up taking Liyenn everywhere they could think of. It was close to sunset before they spotted Kenshin off in the distance. Kohaku stopped in his tracks.

"Sorry, Kakashi. But, I've gotta go now. There's something I need to take care of at home." Kohaku said.

"Alright. I'll see ya tomorrow then." Kakashi said.

Before he left, Liyenn raised her arms up to him. "What? Do you want me to pick you up?" Kohaku asked her. Liyenn nodded. He lifted her into his arms. Kohaku smiled widely. "Goodbye, Nee-chan." he whispered to her.

"Goodbye, Kohaku." she said. Liyenn didn't hear Kohaku's last words, but Kakashi did. _Now I know something's up._ Kakashi sighed as Kohaku left.

Kakashi and Liyenn walked over to Kenshin. "Hello, Liyenn! How was your day?!" Kenshin asked his daughter as she ran into his arms.

"Great Daddy! I made new friends and saw a lot of stuff!"

"That's wonderful. Tell me all about when we get inside?" Liyenn nodded and ran into the hotel they were staying in. Kenshin then turned to Kakashi. "I hope she wasn't too much trouble for ya, Kakashi."

"No, Kenshin-sensei. She was no trouble at all." Kakashi replied.

"Well, that's good to know. But, who was that boy with you just now? I've never seen him before."

"Oh, that was Kohaku. He's a friend of mine. He moved here to the village about five years ago."

"He was good to Liyenn, right?"

"Oh yes. He really took to her." Kenshin knew there was more, but he didn't bother to press on.

"I've decided to stay here for the remainder of this week. And I want you to continue babysitting Liyenn when I'm not training her."

"But, sensei, I've got other things to do around the village and - "

"Not a problem. I've already talked to the Hokage about it and he said it wouldn't be a problem. Besides, if everything goes right, my family and I will be moving here in a couple of years."

"Really?" Kakashi was surprised but sounded happy.

"Yes. I was wondering if you would take Liyenn around and introduce her to some of the children around here. That way, when she does come here, she'll already know some people."

"Well, I don't see a problem in doing so."

"Thanks Kakashi. I always knew I could count on you."

* * *

The week continued. Kakashi babysat Liyenn every day that week, along with the help of Kohaku. _How did I manage to forget her?_ Kakashi thought as he seen Liyenn, Naruto, and Sasuke heading towards a fair sized house at the far end of the village. _I can't believe that's the same little girl that Kohaku and I babysat all that week. She changed so much. Before, she could barely protect herself against a few little kids, now she a strong shinobi, just like Kenshin-sensei used to be._

Liyenn walked to meet Kakashi, Sakura, and Daiki. "Well, I must go. It was a pleasure to meet you, Kakashi-kun, Sakura-chan." Daiki said, turning to leave.

"Yes, you too, Daiki-san." Kakashi said. He turned and looked at Liyenn. There she was. The kid he babysat... and he had forgotten her. _I could certainly beat myself now for not recognizing her before._

Liyenn noticed that Kakashi was looking at her. "What?" she asked, sounding annoyed and very snotty.

"Oh, nothing." Kakashi said, giving a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Whatever. Well, since there's nowhere else to stay, you guys are staying with me." Liyenn said, her tone changing slightly.

"Great!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Sounds alright to me." Sakura agreed. Sasuke grunted his agreement.

"Well, let's go then." Liyenn said, opening the front door to her home.

* * *

**People Introduced:**

**Kohaku** - a boy who moved to Konoha 13 years before the _Naruto_ story begins. Nobody knows much about him. He's been friends with Kakashi since he moved to Konoha. His behaviour around Liyenn is a mystery to Kakashi, considering Kohaku doesn't treat Konoha's children like he treated Liyenn. For Kakashi, the mystery of Kohaku and his past will unfold in later events.

**Jutsus Used:**

_None_

**A/N:** Well, there was chapter four. Not a lot of action, and a few mysteries, I know, but once things become clear for everyone, more will happen. Thanks for reading it!


	5. A Promise to the Sick

**A/N:** Still no reviews. -sob- Anyway, here's chapter five... and it's longer :D**

* * *

**

**Chapter Five:**

**A Promise to the Sick**

Liyenn led the way into the house at the end of the village. It was an older looking house, two stories with red stone shingles, an fairly large front porch, white walls, and a beautiful, tall bamboo fence surrounding it.

The inside of the Ogokasi Mansion was just as beautiful as the outside. The foyier was larger than it appeared on the outside. The stone flooring was red and the walls were a nice golden yellow. Liyenn took off her boots and placed them on a mat by the door. There was a pair of zori with a red straps laying there that appeared to be laying there for quite a long time.

Liyenn ran over and opened one of the two doors. Behind the door were white walls and blood red carpet. There was a fireplace, along with a sofa that was looking a little worn, and a couple of just as worn looking chairs. Over in the corner of the family room, stood a large, wooden rocking chair. Its dark brown paint was beginning to peel away and the golden pillow that laid in the seat had already lost its fluffiness. The mantle was covered with dusty picture frames. Most of them were of Liyenn, others were of other family members.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi went into the family room and sat down, while Sakura went over to the mantle and started looking at the pictures. Liyenn started to leave the room. "Alright." she began. "I'm going to go start dinner. You guys make yourselves comfortable." She received an 'Alright' before she left. She slid the door shut on her way out.

Sakura noticed a painting on the wall over the mantle just as Liyenn left the room. In the painting, there were four people; a man that appeared to be between 30 and 40, judging from his greying hair, a younger woman with brown hair and dark brown eyes who was holding a baby, the baby was wrapped in a little, light blue blanket, and a young, navy-haired boy who appeared to be around her age, her's, Naruto's and Sasuke's that was. Sakura noticed how the man and the boy both had the same kind of eyes, ones that looked like Liyenn's eyes. Sakura wanted to ask who the people were, but Liyenn had already left and Sakura didn't feel like disrupting her.

"It's Kenshin-sensei." Sakura turned and saw that it was Kakashi who spoke. He too, along with Naruto and Sasuke, was looking at the painting with great curiosity. "This must be a family portrait. That boy looks a lot like Liyenn, and Kenshin-sensei and the boy have the same kind of eyes." Kakashi observed. Then he frowned. "But, I didn't know Kenshin-sensei had a son." He said this while stroking his chin. _Liyenn never said anything about having a brother... ummm? What else is she hiding from us?_

The door slid open. Kakashi and the others turned to see if it was Liyenn, so they could ask her about the boy in the painting. But it wasn't Liyenn. Instead, a woman stood in the doorway. Her dark brown hair was short and a little ragged. Her face was sunken in and her body appeared to be wasting away. She looked very old, but the look in her eyes told them that she was still quite young. The nightgown she wore was long and ragged in some areas. She looked at the four before moving towards the rocking chair to sit down. The woman sat down slowly and silently. She remained silent until she looked like she had regained her strength.

Sakura looked at the woman, at the painting, and then at the woman again. Then it occurred to her. _Could this woman be...?!_ The words the Daiki said started to ring through her skull. _"Liyenn's mother is very sick."_ She gasped. _Oh my gosh! It couldn't be?!_

"What's wrong child?" the woman asked Sakura. Her voice was weak and she sounded tired.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sakura bowed her apology. "Um, I couldn't help but wonder, are you Yokomo-san?"

"So, you've heard of me?" the woman asked her. Kakashi and Naruto gasped, while Sasuke just looked shocked.

"Daiki-san told us about you and your illness." Sakura explained.

"Ah, Daiki-san. A good person he is." Sakura nodded in agreement. "Tell me, what is your business here? And, how did you find this place?" Yokomo asked them weakly.

Kakashi bowed. "I'm sorry. We're here with Liyenn - "

"Oh. Liyenn's home?!" Yokomo said happily, cutting Kakashi off.

"Um, yeah. We met Liyenn on our way back to Konoha." Naruto explained. "We kinda followed her here when she told us where she was from." Yokomo frowned at this. Naruto felt nervous when she did. "Is there something wrong?"

"It's not like Liyenn to just bring people home with her. I'm sorry, who did you say you were?" Yokomo asked, resting her head on the back of the rocking chair.

"I'm sorry. We didn't properly introduce ourselves. I'm Hatake Kakashi of Konoha. These are my students; Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto." Kakashi pointed to them as he said their names.

"I am Ogokasi Yokomo. It is a pleasure to meet you all." Yokomo gave a very weak smile. Sakura kept looking at the painting. "Is there a question I may answer for you, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura blushed when she was addressed. "Oh, yeah. I was just wondering who these people were. All of them, I mean."

Yokomo got up and went over to the mantle next to Sakura. Yokomo addressed the painting first. "This painting is the only family picture I have. The woman is myself, the man behind me is my husband, Ogokasi Kenshin. You must've heard of him already?"

"Well, yes. Kenshin was my sensei when he came to Konoha a couple decades ago."

Yokomo eyed Kakashi. "Ah, yes. The son of the White Fang. I remember your name now. Kenshin spoke highly of you and the rest of your team. He said you were the best group of students he ever had." Kakashi beamed, while made Yokomo smile. "I suppose Liyenn told ye then. About what happened to my poor husband." Everyone nodded. Yokomo sighed and returned her gaze to the painting. "The baby in my arms is Liyenn. The boy beside me is my son, Ogokasi Habu."

Sasuke frowned. "Liyenn never told us about a brother."

"Well, Liyenn never knew Habu. The day after this painting was finished, a thunder-cat demon attacked our village. Habu went out into the village to protect Liyenn. We had almost already lost her. He couldn't bare the thought of losing her again."

"You almost lost her?" Sakura asked.

"Yes." Yokomo answered, her gaze was still on the painting as she spoke. "Liyenn was born a couple months premature. For a moment there, none of us believed she was going to make. I wasn't even able to hold her in fear that she would die if I even touched her. But the Phoenix did everything she could to save Liyenn's life. The Phoenix gave up most of her strength trying to heal Liyenn. When word spread of the thunder-cat demon's attack, Habu was among the first out there, trying to get it away from his sister." Yokomo relieved herself of a heavy sigh before continuing. "Habu was also the first to perish. The village told Kenshin and myself that poor little Habu's body was swallowed whole by the evil cat."

There was silence in the room when Yokomo finished her story. She started swaying in her spot, which indicated that she needed to sit. With Sakura's help, Yokomo moved towards the sofa and took a seat there.

"We're so sorry for your lost." Sakura told her as she helped Yokomo sit. The other murmured their sympathy.

Yokomo gave them a sad, weak smile. "There's no need for that. It still hurts, but I know my son and husband are in a better place. And what's better is that they're together." Yokomo looked back at Sakura. "Do you wish to know more about the people on my mantle?" Sakura nodded. "Alright. You pass me the picture and I'll tell you about the people in them."

For about fifteen minutes, Yokomo sat explaining who were in the pictures. Finally, Sakura brought over the last picture. This one was different from all the rest. The others were of Liyenn, Kenshin, Yokomo, and/or Habu. This one, however, had three different people in it. There was a man that looked slightly like Yokomo, a small brown-haired woman and a young child, no older than three. Sakura frowned when she looked at the picture. She had never seen this place before but why did the child look a little familiar? Sakura handed the picture to Yokomo. "Ah." Yokomo said. "This is my brother, his wife and son. This picture was taken in my home village; the Snow Village of the Water Country." She sighed. "I never even met my nephew. And, now I never will."

"Why do you say that?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, a few years ago, when Liyenn was only about four, I received news that my brother and his wife were dead and the boy was never found."

"Never found?"

"No. My brother's home was penetrated by ice and he and my sister-in-law were both found dead. They searched the house for Haku, but they didn't even find a scrap of flesh or bone." It was when she said the name 'Haku' that everyone else in the room exchanged a nervous glance.

Before anyone could say another word, the door slid open. Liyenn was behind it. She was cleaning her hands. "Well, dinner's ready. I'm just gonna go get..." She stopped when she finally looked up and noticed Yokomo sitting there. "Momma?" Liyenn moved quickly to her mother's side. "Momma, what are you doing out of bed? Are you feeling alright? You didn't over do it, did you Momma?" Liyenn sounded worried. But Yokomo only chuckled.

"I'm fine, Liyenn. You shouldn't worry so much. If anything, I should be worried about you, but I know you're doing fine on your own." Yokomo smiled at Liyenn. She rearched up and pulled Liyenn into an embrace. "I'm glad you're safely home, sweetie."

"I'm glad to _be_ home." Liyenn said, smiling and returning the hug.

Naruto couldn't help but smile too. He didn't know why. From what he had heard from Liyenn, she didn't have a very happy life. It was nice to know that she knew how to smile, even through all of her rough times. He just had to figure out a way now to tell both Liyenn and Yokomo that him and his team had killed Haku without getting himself hurt.

Liyenn then pulled herself away from the embrace and looked at everyone. She smiled. "Well, I hope you guys are hungry, 'cause dinner's ready."

Helping her mother rise, Liyenn led everyone to the dinning room. It was behind the second door they seen when they first entered the house. When they walked into the room, they saw the cooking area. There was a large cooking pot atop of the fairly large stove with an abnormally large stepping-stool beside it. The counter top was clean aside from the cutting board that was littered with vegetables, herbs and spices. The porcelain sink was a little ways down from the cutting board. It, too, was littered, but with cooking utensils and cutting knives.

Attached to the cooking area, or kitchen, was the dinning room. It's blood red walls matched most of the house that Kakashi and the others already seen. The curtains in the window were drawn, making the room seem darker than it really was. There was another fireplace, but this one wasn't littered was dusty picture frames. It was actually quite bare and looked like it was never actually used. There, in the centre of the room, was a lengthy table with a number of seating arrangements. At each seat, was a plate, a bowl, a cup, and eating utensils.

Liyenn led her mother to the head of the table. She then indicated to the others to take a seat. They began to sit down when Naruto realized something. "Hey Liyenn?"

"Yeah Naruto?"

"There's not enough seats for all of us."

Liyenn gave him a small smile. "I know." She then went about filling up everyone's plates with food, and proceeded to pour them all drinks. At first, Naruto wouldn't sit, not knowing what to do. Liyenn looked at him and smiled. "It's okay, Naruto. You don't need to be so worried about me. Sit, eat, and enjoy yourself." Naruto blushed a little bit before sitting down. Liyenn finished serving everyone, and before she left for the kitchen, she turned and said, "Alright everyone. Dig in." She smiled brightly and walked away.

Everyone started eating after Liyenn gave the word. Naruto's eyes watered with enjoyment as he took his first bite. He gasped happily. "Wow! This is great!" he said as he took another bite. Liyenn smiled to herself in the kitchen.

"That's my little Liyenn. She's such a fine cook." Yokomo said, smiling after she swallowed her first mouthful.

"Liyenn really made this?! All by herself?!" Naruto asked, sounding surprised and very pleased.

Yokomo nodded. "Yes. She came up with the recipe on her own as well." Yokomo answered, taking another mouthful.

"Amazing!" Naruto exclaimed.

Yokomo smiled. It appeared that Liyenn had a fan, which made her really happy. _Maybe Liyenn will finally get some friends after all. If only she could get away from that man... _Yokomo's smile faded as she thought about it. She wanted nothing more than for Liyenn to be free, and knew that Liyenn wasn't going to be free until Yokomo either got completely better or simply died.

There were days Yokomo wished she could die. Her illness had kept her from doing her usual activities every day since she got sick. She didn't want to be a burden to Liyenn any more. Yokomo knew that her death would also set Liyenn free. The words that Daiki spoke the day Liyenn first left still rang in her ears when she thought about it. _"The man is only using the family situation to his advantage. You know that, don't you, Yokomo-san? Liyenn feels like it's the only way to help you. That man is just using her to figure out how to gain control of the Phoenix..."_

Yokomo thought about death. All the time, actually. But she couldn't just kill herself. Liyenn would feel like it was her own fault; that she had caused her mother's death. She placed her chopsticks down on the table beside her plate.

"Is there anything wrong, Yokomo-san?" Yokomo snapped out of her thought. It was Kakashi who spoke.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine. I just need to rest." Yokomo said, forcing herself to smile. "Liyenn." she called weakly.

"Yes, Momma?" Liyenn said, coming into the room.

"I'm finished now. Could you help me to my room, sweetie?"

"Yes, Momma." Liyenn looked at Yokomo's plate and noticed that it was still practically full. Liyenn sighed and led her mother away.

"Hey, guys?"

"What is it, Naruto?"

Everyone looked and noticed that Naruto wasn't eating. They all looked at each other, not sure what he wanted or why he wasn't eating. Although they could probably guess what it was.

"Well, Liyenn brought us into her home, even though they probably couldn't afford it and her mother was really sick. I think we should do something. You know, to help out and stuff."

Again, everyone looked at each other, a little shocked at Naruto's quietness and his responsible thinking. This wasn't the same hyperactive Naruto that they had only a few hours ago, but they all knew he was right. They should do something to thank the family who so kindly allowed them to stay.

* * *

"Is there anything else I could do for you Momma?" Liyenn asked, tucking her mother in for the night. 

"No, I'm fine. But I wouldn't mind a hug from my dear, sweet girl." Yokomo said, raising her arms slightly. Liyenn let herself be pulled into her mother's arms. "That boy's a nice one, Liyenn."

Liyenn blinked, and then frowned. "That boy?" she quoted. "You mean Naruto, don't you?" Liyenn pulled out of her mother's embrace.

"Well, yes. He seems to be fond of you." Yokomo smiled.

"Don't be ridiculous, Momma. We just met." Liyenn said, blushing slightly. Good thing it was dark, or Yokomo would've noticed. It was embarrassing to have her mother talk to her about stuff like this.

"You know that doesn't mean anything, Liyenn. Me and your father had just met when we fall in love."

"Yes, but he literally ran into you. It's completely different from how me and Naruto met." Liyenn said, turning away from Yokomo.

"Oh? How so?" Yokomo asked curiously.

"It's not important, Momma."

"I suppose it isn't."

"Well, you get some rest, Momma."

"I well." Yokomo paused for a moment. Liyenn knew an idea was coming. "Maybe you should take your new friends to the Phoenix's hut tomorrow. They might be able to understand you a little better then. Or at least, your power when they see it."

Liyenn stopped and thought about it. It was a very good idea, one she never thought of. "Yeah, I think I will." She turned to walk away; there were dishes to do downstairs and she couldn't put it off much longer. Not only that, but she also had company to entertain. "Well, goodnight, Momma." Liyenn said as she opened the door.

"Goodnight, Liyenn. I love you."

"I love you, too, Momma." Liyenn said, smiling.

She left the room and slowly shut the door behind her. She thought about what her mother said about Naruto being fond of her. Her mother had never seen her interact with anyone outside of the village, but Liyenn herself knew that she acted more like herself around Naruto. She told him things she probably wouldn't dare telling someone else. There was just something about him... _No!_ Liyenn shook her head, trying to get rid of the thought. She just met him, there was no possible way. She knew that if Naruto knew more about her, Naruto wouldn't be fond of her at all.

Liyenn walked down the flight of stairs, still deep in thought. She only came to because she heard the sound of dishes clinging together in the room to her right. She frowned, which was followed by a sigh. _They better not be fighting in there..._ But she stopped and realized that the noises would be louder if they were fighting. _What were they doing in there?!_

Liyenn slid open the door. What she saw shocked her. Sakura was washing dishes and Naruto was drying them. Kakashi was looking for where the dishes went to, and Sasuke was helping him, along with looking for something to put the leftovers in.

"Wh-what's going on?" Liyenn shuddered, still in a state of shock.

Naruto turned and grinned at her. "Oh, hi Liyenn! We decided to help out since you were obviously already busy." Liyenn just stared at them. "To be honest, Liyenn, we wanted to do something to show you how grateful we were for your's and your mother's hospitality." He smiled.

"It was Naruto's idea." Sakura began explaining. "He said he would do it all himself if we didn't want to help out, but we couldn't let him do that." Sakura smiled as well.

"It's the least we could do." Kakashi said, smiling as well.

"Yeah, so, you could go relax." Sasuke said. He wasn't smiling and Liyenn could tell he wasn't used to being nice, but she appreciated it anyway.

Liyenn couldn't help but blush. Never before had people lifted a finger to help her, even the people she already knew. But here were people she just met and barely knew helping her, doing the work themselves instead of making her do it. They were her guests, but they kindly took the chores upon themselves. Liyenn left the room silently, still to shocked to think.

She walked into the family room and slid the door shut behind her. She went and sat down in front of the fireplace. She needed something to stare into, so she threw a flaming kunai into the pile of burnt wood. When the flames were high enough, Liyenn reached in and took her kunai back. There was no need of wasting a good kunai.

Liyenn sat there, staring into the fire for what seemed like an eternity. So much had happened in that one day that changed her on the inside, even if it was just a little bit. These four strangers that she met on a dirt road were being so kind to her. Well, except for one, who seemed like he was being nice just because he had to, not because he wanted to. None of them knew anything about her for once and she was herself around them. Or, at least one of them. Of all of them, Naruto was the kindest and treated her as an equal and not like monster or something worth controlling. He was going to protect her from Kuro, he respected her sacred places, he wouldn't sit until she reassured him that it was okay, and he came up with the idea of helping her out around the house. Not only did he come up with the idea, but he had offered to do it all himself. This was the greatest act of kindest anyone had done since Yoshi-sensei confronted Master-sama about letting her go free. That didn't go over very good, mind you, but at least he tried.

A few minutes later, Liyenn was joined by Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. They sat for a moment in silence before everyone started talking. Naruto started talking to Liyenn, who continued to stare into the fire. Sakura started obsessing over Sasuke, who groaned in annoyance.

Kakashi on the other hand went upstairs. He needed to confirm something with Liyenn's mother, so he went to speak with her. He knocked on her door and waited. He heard a faint 'Come in', and opened it. "Yokomo-san?"

"Oh. Kakashi-kun. What can I do for you?" Yokomo said, sitting up in her bed.

Kakashi walked towards the bed on the far side of the room. He stood there beside her bed for moment, looking at her. She looked so petite and fatigued. Her hair was spread out on the pillow beneath her head, Kakashi could see the color was changing from dark brown to a dark grey.

"Well? What is it?" Yokomo said.

"Oh, sorry. I was just wondering about this illness you have." Kakashi said.

"Oh..." Yokomo looked away from Kakashi. "Kakashi-kun, my life is worthless now. I had this disease for six years now. I could be sick for weeks at a time and then I'll be just fine for the same amount of time. The medic-nin in the village has tried everything to cure it, but nothing worked. It's only a matter of time before the disease finally kills me."

"Wait. 'Finally'?" Kakashi quoted.

"Yes. I'm the reason why Liyenn works for that man. She wants me to get better, and my treatments are not cheap. Liyenn's welling to do anything if it means I'll get better. But I fear that the only way I'm getting better is if I die." She paused and looked at Kakashi. "There are times I wish I could die. Liyenn would be free from that man then, and I wouldn't be keeping her from leading a normal life."

"Well, as normal as the shinobi life gets." Kakashi stated.

"Well, yes. It has been her dream for a long time to become the kunoichi that her father would be proud of." Yokomo sighed. "I need a favour of you, Kakashi-kun."

Kakashi perked up when she said this. "Anything, Yokomo-san."

Yokomo gave a weak smile. "If anything happens to me, will you take care of my Liyenn?" Kakashi blinked at this. No one has actually asked him to be the caregiver of a child before, especially to a girl. Yokomo saw noticed that Kakashi looked unsure. "Oh, Liyenn's a good girl. She wouldn't be any trouble to you at all. All I'm asking is that if I die tomorrow or sometime in the future, will you be there for her in case she needs somebody to help her get back on her feet?"

Kakashi's expression soften. "I would do anything to help her, Yokomo-san." Kakashi said finally. But then he looked at her, confusion written all over on his face. "But, why me? There's other people in the village that could help her, aren't there?"

"Well, yes, there is. But to be honest, I don't trust them. They've judged her for working for that man, and they've judged her because of the spirit that resides in her."

"The Phoenix, you mean?"

"Yes. Liyenn told you?" Kakashi nodded and Yokomo smiled. "I don't know why, but Liyenn trusts you and your students. And I trust you too. That's why I wish for _you_ to help her and no one else." Yokomo said.

Kakashi smiled. It felt good to be trusted. "Alright, Yokomo-san. I promise, I'll do everything in my power to help Liyenn if she needs it."

"Thank you, Kakashi-kun."

Not long after Kakashi finally joined the rest of the group did everyone decide it was time for bed. It was getting late and Liyenn and the boys really looked tired. Liyenn led everyone to their bedroom for the night before heading to bed herself.

Liyenn had just lay her head on the pillow when she prayed she would sleep throughout the night this time.

* * *

**A/N:** End of Chapter Five. Tell me what ya think, please:D I know it's a little boring, but action will be coming soon. I promise! Thanks for reading this far! 

**People Introduced:**

**Yoshi** - Yoshi is one of Liyenn's senseis. He was good to her and he was Liyenn's favourite sensei. More will be explained about him later along with Liyenn's other senseis.

**Jutsus Used:**

_None_


	6. A Reoccurring Dream

**A/N:** This is chapter six. Possibly a little more interesting than the first five chapters, but probably more confusing. I hope you'll enjoy it.

* * *

**Chapter Six:**

**A Reoccurring Dream With Something New Inside**

Liyenn tossed and turned in her sleep. She had prayed just a few hours before, but she guessed it didn't work...

* * *

_-Inside Liyenn's head-_

_Where am I?_ Liyenn looked at the dark void around. She knew where she was, but still wasn't sure. She heard screaming from afar. _What's going on?_ She asked herself as she ran towards the screaming.

When she arrived at the scene, she saw exactly what was happening. People were running away from a thunder cat-demon. She was in the past, thirteen years ago. She ran through the crowd. _Not again!_ Liyenn thought, trying to get through to the demon. When she got closer, she noticed that there was a young boy with navy hair battling it. She recognized him, only because she seen him before her dreams.

"I will not let you have my sister!" the boy cried. He growled at the demon as he dodged one of the cat's paws.

_Habu! No! You don't have to protect me!_ Liyenn cried, though he could not hear her. Then, before her eyes, Habu was eaten by the demon. She watched in horror as the demon ripped his body in half and then swallow the other half whole. The demon licked up every last drop of flesh, bone, and blood. The demon then looked at Liyenn and pounced at her. She closed her eyes, placing her arms above her head as protection.

When Liyenn opened her eyes, the demon was gone and she was in a different place. She knew the place, for it was the place in which she and her father would train. _Again with this dream... will it never leave me alone?_

Liyenn looked and saw what was coming next. There was a crowd of people, all of them from her village. Liyenn worked her way through the crowd, trying to see what was there, even though she already knew. Kneeling there before her, was a little girl crying over a bloody body. Liyenn knew this scene, since the little girl was herself.

"Liyenn... be good for your mother..." the body said to the little girl.

"Daddy?!" little Liyenn cried. Liyenn could feel her own eyes beginning to swell with tears. She closed her eyes, trying to hold them back. But when she opened them, the little girl was standing there alone staring at Liyenn.

"Daddy wouldn't wake up." little Liyenn said softly. "He died trying to save your life. It was all your fault we lost him..."

_No! That's not true! Daddy wouldn't want me to think that way!_ Liyenn cried. She closed her eyes as the tears ran from them.

"But, it is your fault. If it wasn't for you, he would still be alive, along with so many others." the little girl said, her voice faint.

Liyenn opened her eyes to another scene. This one was at a palace type place. The room was dark, but Liyenn could probably tell you where and what everything was. She ran through the palace, praying that she could stop the what was going to happen next.

But, alas, she was too late. Liyenn stood there, horrified. There she stood, in front of a girl and her father, surrounded by fire.

"How could you do this to us?!" the girl cried.

"You're so young! Why would you do this to your own kind?" the man asked her.

"You were nothing more than a thorn in my side, Mizuki." the other Liyenn said, kicking the girl, now known as Mizuki. "And you, Nori. You were always so troublesome to get alone. But now, you're both going to die." The other Liyenn made a symbol with her hands and the two people were engulfed in flames. She then turned to Liyenn. "You know, you could've stopped this."

_What do you mean?! I didn't have a choice in the matter!_

"There's always a choice, Liyenn. But, you chose to kill people. Do you even realize what kind of person that makes you?" The other Liyenn was now standing in front of her.

_No! You're wrong! If I didn't take the job, I wouldn't've gotten the money to pay for Momma's treatment!_

"You've caused so much trouble in your life, haven't you? And just to get some money. Surely there were other ways to get money. But no, you went to work for _him_. You're talents could've been used somewhere else. Or that's what Yoshi-sensei thought..."

The sence changed again, this time it was at Liyenn's headquarters. Liyenn would be there, training, receiving missions or whatever her master wanted her for. Liyenn walked down the hallway, where she saw a door slightly opened. She peeked through it, just to see who was behind it.

"Stupid Yoshi." one man said.

"He really should've known better than to do what he did." said another.

Behind the door was two men that Liyenn knew very well. The first one who spoke was Ryota, Liyenn's defense sensei. He taught her how to defend herself against all types of weapons and how to defend her own weak spots. The second one who spoke was Saburo, the group's medic-nin and Ryota's younger brother. He taught Liyenn everything she needed to know about the human body, all the pressure points, all the main blood vessels and locations, and all vital areas and locations and how deep you would need to penetrate the flesh to reach them.

"I really can't believe that he would actually ask Master-sama to release her. Did he even realize how much trouble Master-sama went through just to find her?" Ryota asked, knowing there wasn't going to be an answer.

"I don't know, Ryota. But Yoshi must thought a lot of Liyenn to want to have her released." Saburo stated.

Ryota knew that Saburo had a good point. "Yes he must've. But don't you dare say anything to Master-sama about it or he'll do to you what he do to Yoshi." Ryota warned.

"I know, onii-san. So, what are we suppose to tell Liyenn when she gets back? You know she's going to be looking for him."

"I know she will be. But we can't tell her that we killed him. We'll have to tell her that he died during a mission he was sent on."

Liyenn had just gotten back from the horrifying experience with Tsukiko Mizuki and her father, Nori. Now she had just walked in on this. Yoshi was her Arts sensei. He taught her what it meant to be a shinobi, what it stands for in someone's life, either your own or someone else's. He taught her the rules to go by. He was also the first person Liyenn came to trust outside of her mother. She told him everything, how her missions went, her father's death, how she wanted to be free but couldn't. With Yoshi gone, Liyenn had nobody. And, make the best of it, he had died trying to set her free. How could she live with that?

"He died for you, Liyenn."

_I know he did. But... he didn't have to._

"He knew you weren't happy and he wanted to fix it for you. He truly cared for you."

_As did I for him. He was like a father to me... why did he have to die?_

"It was your fault, as usual."

_I didn't tell him to ask Master-sama for my freedom! He did that himself!_

"Yes, but only because he knew it was what you wanted. So, thus, it is your fault."

_No..._

"Yes, Liyenn. And soon, everyone else in your life well die as well. All because of your desires. All because you choose to kill for a career."

The scene changed. She was in her village. Again, everyone was screaming. Flames came out of the buildings and people ran pass her, screaming because they were on fire, burning to death. Disaster was all around her. She saw herself again. The other Liyenn was standing in the middle of the flames. Actually, she was the one causing the massive fire!

_What are you doing?! This is your village!_

"Yes, but my desire for money grew too strong. Master-sama said he would give me triple the pay if I completed this mission. That was too much money to decline."

_No..._ Liyennn shook her head.

"And, pretty soon, you will be the same as me." Images of her mother flashed by. "At least Momma won't be suffering anymore." The other Liyenn gave her a cold stare. "You're mother will be first, and then, the others one are close to you."

Liyenn frowned. _Others? What others?_

The scene changed again. This time to a place Liyenn never seen before. She looked around, questioning the significance of this place.

"Hey, Liyenn!" said a cheerful voice.

_Naruto?_ Liyenn looked and saw Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi heading towards her other self.

"Good day, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi. I'm glad you could make it."

_No! Don't go to her! It's a trick!_

Before Liyenn could do anything else, her other self whipped out a kunai. She attacked everyone. Within a blink of an eye, she had ripped Sakura across the stomach, Sasuke across the throat, and stabbed Kakashi in the back of the head.

"Liyenn! Why are you doing this?!" Naruto cried to her.

"Well, it's my job, you see. I have to kill everyone I get close to." the other Liyenn explained with a evil grin. Naruto gasped. Before he could stop her, the other Liyenn sliced him up through the middle. Liyenn's other self dropped her kunai and it landed in the back of Naruto's head. Blood was everywhere, except for on Liyenn's other self. In fact, there wasn't even a small splash on her.

Liyenn's other self walked over to Liyenn, who was staring at her new friend's bloody corpses. "This was all your fault, Liyenn."

_No... I didn't kill them..._

"Are you sure about that? Take a look at herself." Liyenn moved over to a river and looked in. She cried when her bloody reflection stared back at her. She looked at her hands and saw that they were covered in fresh blood - Naruto's blood.

_This can't be! You were the one that killed them! Not me!_

"You see, Liyenn, I'm just a reflection of the person you're becoming. Face it, you're a monster."

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Somewhere in the distance, Liyenn heard another scream. Little to her knowledge, the scream was her own.

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**A/N:** End of chapter six. It's a bit shorter, but, meh. Thanks for readin this far! Please review! 

**People Introduced:**

**Tsukiko Mizuki & Tsukiko Nori** - People Liyenn tricked into becoming friends with in order to assassinate them. Mizuki was 12 and Nori was in his late 30s, early 40s. Anyway, Liyenn actually became friends with these people, which is why their murder is in her dream.

**Ryota & Saburo** - Brothers that work under Liyenn's master. Both of them are her senseis. Ryota taught Liyenn defense while Saburo taught Liyenn about the human body. Ryota, being the oldest, warns Saburo and takes care of him, while Saburo seems to care a little about Liyenn and seems to think that Yoshi was right.

**Inner Liyenn** - Not really a character, but still very important. Inner Liyenn represents want Liyenn believes she is becoming. Liyenn is actually afraid of her inner self and tends to argue with it when she sees it in her dreams. Inner Liyenn is known for making Liyenn cry within her dreams.

**Jutsu Used:**

_None_


	7. If I Tell You

**A/N:** Here's chapter seven. And thank you to slytherinXprincessX16 for your review!

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**Chapter Seven:**

**If I Tell You My Secrets, Will You Still Be My Friend?**

Liyenn woke up with a small scream. _Not again. Why won't this dream just leave me alone?!_ She was panting, beads of sweat was rolling off her face. She had to get out of there, before she woke someone else up.

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Naruto was having trouble sleeping due to the fact the head of his bed was on the wall that separated his and Liyenn's room, and he could hear her turning in her sleep, along with her heavy breathing, and... was that sobing? She must've been having a bad dream. 

Naruto sat up in his bed thinking it was impossible for him to get to sleep. When he did, he heard a door open and the sound of feet running on a wooden floor. Naruto got up and left his room. When he looked, Liyenn's door was open, but there was no sign of Liyenn. _She must've went down stairs._ Naruto thought before hearing what sounding like the front door slamming shut. _Or not..._

Naruto went downstairs. Liyenn's footwear was still in front of the door. _Did she go outside without wearing any footwear? I wonder what's wrong?_ Naruto opened the door and started running. Where he was running to, he had no idea, but he had to find Liyenn. There was something wrong. She left for a reason, and he wanted to know why.

Naruto found Liyenn beside the river, the place where she took him and Sasuke to earlier. He watched her first.

Liyenn was crying. She looked at her reflection in the river, but saw only her inner self. "Why?! Why am I becoming this?!" she screamed, hitting the water's surface as if she was trying to hit herself. She pulled her hand back, and cried a little harder. She had hit her hand on a sharp rock that was underneath the water's surface. The blood trickled down her arm as she tucked her knees in closer to herself. She rested her head on her knees and the heavy sobbing began.

Naruto, who Liyenn could probably see if she turned around, stood there looking at her. _Was she afraid of herself? _There were so many questions he wanted to ask her but knew it wasn't the time. Right now, she needed someone to hold her close and just be there for her, just to let her cry. For some reason, Naruto couldn't stand to see her cry. It made him sad, it made him wish he knew more about her so he would be a better help to her.

Naruto walked over to her and sat down next to her. He put his arm around Liyenn and rested his hand on her shoulder. Naruto then pulled Liyenn into him. Liyenn didn't seem to notice since she just simply continued to cry. He let Liyenn cry into him for what seemed like forever. After about an hour of constant crying, Naruto forced Liyenn to look him in the eye. At first she wouldn't look at him, but she gave in after she seen how determined he was. Naruto wiped her tears away with his hand before ripping a piece of his pant leg off. Liyenn watched him with confusion, forgetting that her hand was still bleeding. She hadn't lost that much blood, but if her wound wasn't covered up soon it would get inflected.

Naruto wrapped the piece cloth around Liyenn bleeding hand after he dipped the cloth into the water. Liyenn blushed as Naurto carefully tied it, making sure it was tight enough but not too tight that it would hurt her. What was with this boy? Why was he being so kind to her? Liyenn thought about her dream and how she was covered in Naruto's blood like she was covered in her father's that time when he died.

"I bet you're wondering why I followed you, huh?" Naruto asked her, forcing her out of her train of thought.

She blushed. She had wondered why he cared so much to follow, but didn't have the nerve to asked him. "Well, kinda." Liyenn said quietly.

"I heard you in your room. It didn't sound like you were doing too well in there."

"I woke you?!" Liyenn gasped. The last thing she wanted was to wake him up. Now she felt horrible.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'm just happy I was able to find you. By the looks of things, you would've got seriously hurt if I didn't come to comfort you in time." Naruto said, looking up at the stars. It really was a beautiful night. The full moon shone down upon them, everything glowed under its off white shine.

Liyenn looked away, not wanting Naruto to see her face. She could feel her face burn as the blood rushed to her cheeks. He actually cared. "So, you came after me?" Liyenn asked him, turning redder by the second.

"Well, yeah. I wanted to know what was wrong. You sounded really upset and I couldn't help but wonder." Naruto said, looking at Liyenn. He noticed she wasn't looking at him and wanted to know why. "Why aren't looking at me?"

Liyenn stiffened when he asked this. What was she suppose to say? She slowly turned towards him. In the moonlight, Naruto could see how red she was. He couldn't help but smile at her. "Well, I, um..." she started, but Naruto cut her off.

"Never mind that. Just tell me what was wrong. Why did you leave the house?"

Liyenn felt relieved that Naruto decided to drop his pervious question. But she still had to answer his new one. "Well, I didn't want to wake anyone up, so I thought it would be better if I just went outside."

"What happened, anyway?"

"It's nothing important. It was just a bad dream." Liyenn said, trying to get Naruto to leave well enough alone. But, it didn't work.

"Liyenn, I may not know you very well, but I know you well enough to realize when you're hurting. I can tell this dream of your's really affects the way you think about yourself." Naruto paused and gazed deeply into her eyes. As he looked, he noticed just how bright they were; the ice blue shining in the moonlight and her white pupils reflected the moonlight perfectly. "Please tell me, Liyenn."

Liyenn released a deep, sad sigh. "The dream happens in sections. Each one representing different events in my life. The first scene is of the thunder cat-demon's attack on the village. I saw Habu fighting it, saying how he won't let it have his little sister. I try to tell him to stop but, he can't hear me. I then see the demon rip him in two, eat the first half and then swallow the second half. That scene ends with the demon jumping after me." She stopped, giving a heavy sigh.

"The next scene takes me to the last few moments of my father's life. He was telling me to behave for Momma. The next thing I know, I'm standing in front of my younger self. She doesn't look at me, but tells me that it was my fault that we lost him. The next scene takes to a palace on Crescent Island."

"Crescent Island?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. An enemy of my master based there. He was the head of a moon based clan, called the Tsukiko, or Moon Child clan. Anyway, I keep seeing what I did to them for my master." She looked away, afraid to tell Naruto. She was afraid that if he knew, he wouldn't like her anymore and would judge her, like everyone else in the village.

"What did you do?" Naruto asked. It was just an innocent question, but it was one Liyenn didn't want to answer. Liyenn just looked into the river.

Naruto looked at her patiently. She must've had a pretty bad experience if she didn't want to tell him. But he knew that the only way Liyenn would start moving forward is if she learned to talk about it. "Well?" he pressed on.

"Naruto, there are things in my past that make me ashamed to even be alive. People judged because of who I work for and even however long I'm gone for. I've hurt so many people." Liyenn started to curl up again. She could feel the tears beginning to wielded in her eyes again.

Naruto sighed. "Liyenn. Look at me." Liyenn wouldn't look at him on her own, so Naruto placed his fingers in under her chin and gently forced her to look at him. He waited until Liyenn looked him in the eyes before speaking again. "People do things for reasons that only they know. I'm not going to judge or chance my mind about you. I'm sure you had a perfectly good reason for doing whatever it was you did to the Tsukiko clan." He released her chin, trusting her to not look away, which she didn't.

She exhaled deeply before confessing. "I massacred the Tsukiko clan. I trick Mizuki, the heiress of the clan, into taking me in and becoming my friend. She was only twelve. I even became friends with her father, Nori." Naruto looked at her with wide eyes. "Master-sama told me that if I done the deed, I would get more money to help pay for better treatments for Momma. At first, I thought the deed was going to be easy, since I didn't know my targets. But after spending a month with them, I learned more about them, I realized how hard it was going to be for me to go through with it. One of my senseis had to come and ambushed them so I could sneak around to kill them." She paused to sigh. "Anyway, in the dream, I see myself killing them. My other self then looks at me and tells me that I had a choice it what I did. Of course, I was willing to do anything to get money for my mother's treatment. I tried to tell her that I didn't have a choice, but she wouldn't listen. She basically told me that I was evil for the choices that I made."

She stopped and looked at Naruto. Naruto just gave her a small reassuring smile. "You know, Liyenn. I think you made a honourable choice."

"Huh?"

"Well, I don't agree with what you did, but the reason why you did it is completely okay. You were doing it because you needed to for someone you loved, not because you wanted. If you did it becuase you wanted to, well, then it would be a completely different story. But you didn't want to. And if you're having nightmares about it, that means you didn't enjoy doing it." Naruto blushed when he saw Liyenn looking at him so seriously. "So, continue."

"Anyway, the next scene takes me to my master's headquarters. I come across two of my senseis talking about Yoshi-sensei and how Master-sama had him killed because he went and asked him to release me. My other self then comes in and tells me that if I didn't express how I wanted to be free, he would still be alive. I kept saying that he didn't have to, but she kept saying he felt like he had to."

"He seemed to care about you a lot." Naruto commented.

"Well, Yoshi-sensi was like a father to me. He was the first person I came to trust besides my mother. I mean, I trusted him more than I trusted Daiki-san, and I knew him longer. But, he died because of my selfishness." Liyenn rested her head on her knees.

"He wouldn't want you to think like that, Liyenn." Liyenn blinked and looked at Naruto. "He died because he thought he could accomplish something for you. It was something he want for you, he probably didn't care about the consequences on for him." Naruto blushed again when he noticed Liyenn staring at him. "Anyway?"

"Anyway, the next scene brings me back to this village. There was so much catastrophe. Buildings and people were burning. My other self told me that it was because of me. She told me that Master-sama would offer me triple my usual pay if I would do it. Since it was money, I wouldn't refuse. And then she said at least Momma wouldn't be suffering anymore."

"It's like I said, Liyenn. I may not know you very well, but I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't do anything to harm this village. I could tell by the way you interact with the younger children that you love this place too much."

"Anyway. Everything I just told you is what I see every time I have the dream. But, this time..." She trailed off.

"But this time, what? What do you see?"

She hesitated, but continued telling him. She had gone this far, she pretty much had to finish it. "This time, I saw my other self with you, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi. She was waiting for you. I tried to tell you guys that it was a trap, but you couldn't hear me. She attacked all of you and killed Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi in a flash. She waited before killing you. You asked her why, and she told you that it was her job to kill everyone who gets close to her. She kills you. She didn't have even a splatter of blood on herself. I asked her how she managed it and she told me to look at myself. When I looked, I was covered in blood... your blood. She told me that it was what I was becoming... a monster. Then I heard a scream and I woke up." Liyenn gulped when she finished.

Naruto was silent for a while. What was he suppose to say? She was really afraid of herself. "Well Liyenn, I don't think you're becoming a monster."

Liyenn frowned out of shock. "You don't."

"No. If you're really that afraid of your 'other self', as you put it, then I really don't think you want to be her. She's the monster, not you. Your only problem was that you didn't know how to talk about what you did for a living. I think she's just represent the you who keeps everything inside of herself." Naruto said, explaining what he meant. He looked at the sky for a moment. "Well, since you told me your secrets, I guess I should tell you mine."

Liyenn frowned. "You have a secret?"

"Yeah, it's a pretty big one to." Naruto looked at her, and began his story. "12 years ago, the Kyuubi attack my village."

"I heard of the Kyuubi. He was a very powerful demon."

"Yeah, well, the Kyuubi wiped out a lot families and the majority of the village. The Yondaime Hokage sacrificed himself to seal the Kyuubi inside of an infant."

"Daddy's friend."

"Right. Well, anyway. This kid was looked down upon for years, because everyone viewed him as the demon himself and not a little boy. The boy didn't understand why people treated him like that. Even the other kids in the village treated him differently, just because their parents did." Naruto paused, waiting for a reaction out of Liyenn.

"That boy was you, wasn't it?" Liyenn asked.

"I thought you would figure it out. The truth is, I only found out a little while ago. But, I decided that I'll become somebody that the entire village would one day respect. I decided that I'm going to become Hokage, no matter what it takes."

Liyenn looked at him and saw the hope in his eyes. He was looking up at the moon, smiling like nobody was watching. He was determined, and it inspired her. "I guess we all have our own dirty little secrets." she commented, causing Naruto to look at her. "The truth is, Naruto, I've never had a real friend before. I was afraid that if you knew my secrets, you would treat me differently, and wouldn't want me for a friend." She was smiling now, even if it was a sad one.

"Well, I could say the same. You're the first person who actually seems to like having me around and you haven't called me a loser, or annoyance, or a pain, or anything like that. I don't know about you, but I don't want to lose that."

"I don't want to lose that either."

"So, we're friends?" Naruto held his hand out for her to take. She looked at it first before smiling.

"Yup!" She took his hand and then hugged into him. Naruto blushed, of course, being that he never actually been hugged by a girl before, considering they were all after Sasuke. She then looked up at him with a very serious look on her face that caught Naruto off guard. "I don't have to call you 'Naruto-kun', do I?"

He smiled at her before answering. "No, you don't. As long as I don't have to call you 'Liyenn-chan'."

"No, you don't have to." Liyenn said, smiling like there was no tomorrow. She had a friend. A real flesh-n-bone friend that she could call her own. Then Naruto perked up.

"You know what, Liyenn?"

"What?"

"You and your mother should come back to Konoha with us." Liyenn looked confused by this. "The medic-nins are really good there and could probably come up with a cure for your mother's illness. Not only that, but we'll be able to go on missions together and I could take you to Ichiraku Ramen, and I could introduce you to all the other Genin there and we could just hang out." Naruto gave her a huge smile.

Liyenn smiled, too. "That would be nice." She looked at Naruto and could tell that he was really excited about the thought. "I guess there's no harm in asking Momma about it." And with that, Naruto jumped up, as he was enable to control his excitement. He was going to have a friend that wasn't going to be one of Sasuke's fangirls, one that liked him because of him and didn't judge him because of the thing inside of him.

They remained by the riverside for a few more hours laughing and just simply having a good time as friends. As time went on, Liyenn fell asleep in Naruto lap. Naruto didn't mind since she looked so at peace there. He watched as the sunlight came up from over the horizon. He could tell it was going to be a beautiful new day, and the person laying in his lap was the sole reason of his new found happiness.

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**People Introduced:**

**None**

**Jutsus Used:**

_None_

**A/N:** There was chapter seven. Isn't it nice when friendships are formed? Anyway, I hope you guys liked it. Thanks for reading this far! Tell me whacha think... please? -gives a big smile-


	8. A Wish Come True

**A/N:** Here's chapter eight. It's a bit long, but it's all good. :D Hope you enjoy it. And thanks to slytherinXprincessX16 for reviewing!

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**Chapter Eight:**

**A Wish Come True**

The sun was shining brightly in the morning sky. Knowing what a difficult night it was, Naruto decided let Liyenn sleep a little while longer before waking her up. A hour later, Liyenn woke up on her own. She sat up, stretched, and rubbed her eyes before realizing that she was still outside. She blinked as she looked around. As she looked, she noticed that Naruto was still beside her. She smiled at him. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Naruto beamed at her. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did, thank you." She looked at him curiously. "Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"Well, I didn't get to sleep, really." Naruto replied. Liyenn looked shocked. "I couldn't sleep. I was too excited."

"Why?" Liyenn asked, sounding utterly confused.

"Well, you might be going back to Konoha with me." Liyenn blushed and Naruto smiled. "Besides, you looked so peaceful, I didn't want to move and wake you." His smile widened as Liyenn's blush deepened. She looked cute, she really did. They sat together for a moment, nobody speaking. Naruto finally broke the silence by standing up. "Well, I guess we better get back before your mother starts to worry about you." He held out his hand to help Liyenn up.

"Yeah. You're right. We should get back." Liyenn said, taking Naruto's hand.

They walked back to the house together in silence, both of them still too tired to think. When they got there, Yokomo was already up and dress. She was packing a knapsack. She noticed Liyenn and Naruto walk in, and she smiled at them. "Good morning you two. I was beginning to think you would never come in."

"You knew we were gone?" Naruto asked, puzzled.

"Well, Liyenn wasn't in her bed and neither were you, so I just assumed. Liyenn's always waking up in the middle of the night and leaving to get some fresh air." Yokomo smiled at the two of them. She looked like she was feeling a lot better today. Liyenn raised her hand when she was about speak, which was a big mistake. "Liyenn, sweetie! What happened to your hand? Are you ok?"

Liyenn blinked and looked at her hand. She had forgotten that she had injured it. "Oh, Momma, it's nothing. Last night when Naruto found me, I slipped out of shock and cut my hand open. But it's ok now." Liyenn was lying through her teeth, but Yokomo seemed to believe her.

"That's good." Yokomo turned and continued packing the knapsack.

"What's with the knapsack?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, Liyenn was going to take you and your friends to a very special place." Yokomo answered.

"Oh, yes. I forgot!" Liyenn said. As soon as she finished speaking she darted up the stairs to her room.

"Oh, Liyenn. What would I do without you?" Yokomo smiled. She looked at Naruto and noticed that his pant leg was torn. "You bandaged Liyenn's hand, didn't you?" she asked him.

"What? Oh, yeah I did. I didn't want her to get an infection." Naruto said. "Um, Yokomo-san?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun?"

"There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Yokomo looked surprised.

"Well, yeah. Me and Liyenn was talking about it last night. She said she would ask you, but I wanna ask you about it too."

"Ask me what?" Yokomo asked sweetly.

"Well, I was wondering if you would consider going back to Konoha with us." Yokomo just stared at him. "I mean, the medic-nin are really good there and there's a lot of them. So, they could probably come up with a cure faster there. And if you get better, Liyenn would be free."

Yokomo thought about this proposal. It was a good idea, but what was in it for him?

"The truth is Yokomo-san." Naruto began, answering her unspoken question. He was looking down at the floor. "Liyenn's the first person who hasn't judged me, who hasn't called me a pain or an idiot. I really want to be her friend, and I feel we would be better friends if we lived closer together." He looked up at Yokomo to see her crying. He took a step back, fearing he might've said something wrong.

"You really care about her that much that you couldn't wait for her to ask me this herself, don't you?" Naruto nodded. "Naruto-kun, you don't know how much that means to me. To know that Liyenn might be free, to know that Liyenn finally has a friend." She looked at him as a tear glided down her face. "Moving to Konoha would good for Liyenn, and I'll get to see some old friends." Yokomo said, smiling.

"Old friends?"

"Yes. I lived in Konoha before I moved here. It's actually where I met Kenshin-koi. We got married in Konoha and then I moved here with him."

"I see." Before he could say anything else, Liyenn had jumped onto his back, frightening him. She laughed as Naruto gave a small yelp. "Li-Liyenn?! How long were you behind me?" he said, gasping for air.

"Well, long enough to hear what you and Momma were talking about." Liyenn said, sliding down off his back. She smiled at him. "Thank you." Naruto blushed when she thanked him. He didn't know why, really, but he did anyway.

Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke appeared behind Naruto, all of them looked like they were still asleep. Yokomo grinned at them. "You should probably eat some breakfast and then get dress. Liyenn has got quite a nice surprise for you all."

With that, everyone rushed around the kitchen, trying to get something to eat. Naruto was the first one done, so he bolted up the stairs to get dress. He was followed by Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke. About fifteen minutes later, everyone was standing in the kitchen again, waiting on Liyenn. Liyenn slipped the knapsack on and headed towards the door.

They left the house and started walking. Liyenn led them passed the village's hospital, onto an old, beaten path. "So, where are we going?" Sakura asked.

"Well, to the people of this village, the place is very sacred. It's almost like a shrine, now. But thirteen years ago, it was the home of the Phoenix herself."

"You're taking us to the Phoenix's home?" Kakashi asked.

"Yup. Momma said it would probably help you guys understand me a little bit better, or at least my powers."

"How will it help us understand?" Sasuke questioned.

"Well, the Phoenix was a mythical creature with lots of strange powers, some that I have. Some of the Phoenix's magical things are still at her home, all of them still enhanced with her magic. We thought that if I showed you this place, you'll see the magic there, you would understand more about where my powers come from."

"So, how far away is it?" Naruto asked, sounding a little excited.

"Well, it's about a mile and a half away from my home, so, we should be there in a hour or more." She grinned when everyone else groaned. This was going to be a long walk.

For about ten minutes, nobody spoke, probably because they were all still tired. After a while, Naruto finally piped up. "Why are we walking anyway? Wouldn't it be faster if we ran through the trees?" he complained.

"Why run and miss all of this? We're in what use to be the west side of the village. This is where most of the citizens lived, until the cat-demon destroyed it."

"All of these ruins here and nobody knew the village exist?" Kakashi pondered.

"That's right. Nobody comes this far into the forest, anyway, so nobody would think to look for it in here." Liyenn explained.

"It's amazing." Kakashi commented.

As they began to progressed further into the forest, the large group started breaking up into smaller groups; Liyenn up a little farther than the others with Naruto on her tail, Sakura trying to make conversation with Sasuke, and Kakashi trailed a little behind, reading his book.

"So, Liyenn?" Naruto said, trying to start a conversation with Liyenn.

"Yes, Naruto?" Liyenn said, turning her head to look at him.

"Well, there's a lot of questions I could ask you, but I don't know if you'd want to answer them."

"I'll answer any question you have, Naruto. Even if I didn't like it or if I think the answers going to turn you from me." Liyenn said, and Naruto looked unsure. "We're friends, so that means we can't hide things from each other." She smiled.

"Alright. Well, could you tell me about your senseis?"

Liyenn looked a little taken aback by this. No one has asked her about her senseis before. "Ok, well, my senseis are known as the Seven Shinobi Senseis of the Allegiants. They were the only shinobi qualified to be senseis in the organization."

"The Allegiants?"

"Right. The Allegiants was founded by Master-sama, and he's the head of it as well. My master hired these senseis to train younger shinobi, like myself, that are new to the art of the organization. Anyway, the seven of them were Yoshi-sensei, Osamu-sensei, Rokuro-sensei, Ryo-sensei, Ryota-sensei, Ryuu-sensei, and Saburo-sensei. Each one of my senseis taught me something different, either about fighting tactics, defence tactics, or the concept of being a shinobi, along with their other duties to the Allegiants.

Yoshi-sensei was my favourite. He taught me about the concept of being a shinobi. He told me that to be a great shinobi, you have to consider other people. The people that you care for mainly. He said that when fighting in battle, it's not how you fight, it's why and what you're fighting for. He was the best, always had a smile for me and a friendly word of advise. I told him a lot about myself and actually told him about Momma and Daddy, and that I knew about the Phoenix's spirit living inside of me. He was a little shocked when I told him I knew."

"Really? Why?"

"I guess they assumed that I didn't know, like other Jinchuuriki, people who are host to Bijuu. But, the spirit I host to is not a Bijuu, and she's not sealed inside of me. She just lives there, and helps me when I need her to. She also lends me her chakra, which is the reason why I do so many fire techniques when I fight."

"You know a lot about these Jinchuuriki, don't you?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Well, not really. I only know what Yoshi-sensei told me about them. Anyway, Yoshi-sensei was also the captain of the shinobi squads and he was Master-sama's advisor, even though Master-sama never listened to him or took his advise."

"I'm sorry." Naruto said.

"It's ok. Anyway, that was Yoshi-sensei. Osamu-sensei is my weapons sensei. He teaches me about different weapons that shinobi uses, how to identify the weapon's weak spot just by looking at it, and also how to wield different types of weapons. He told me that learning about weapons is very important considering different shinobi use different weapons. Some shinobi use fist weapons while others use swords and daggers. He also told me it was best to learn how to use different weapons because it would be harder for the opponent to figure out what move I'll be making next. He taught me different techniques for different weapons."

"So, you can use swords and kunai?"

"Basically. I only had Rokuro-sensei for about a year or so. He taught me what I need to know about chakra. He showed me what I would need to do to shut off the opponent's chakra source and he has taught me chakra control. Thanks to him, I can walk on water and walk up trees. Chakra control can also help me run faster, which is something else Rokuro-sensei taught me. He was gentle with me, but he never treated me the way that Yoshi-sensei did.

My next sensei is Ryo-sensei. He's the one who has been helping me perfect all of my Ninjutsus. He also helped me develop a special _henge_ technique that I know. He's very skilled and is well known in the Allegiants. Master-sama usually send him on the most dangerous of missions he has.

Ryota-sensei is the one I keep seeing in my dream. He's one of the ones who killed Yoshi-sensei. He teaches me defence; how to defend myself, how to get out of Genjutsus, and even how to discover my own weak points and how to protect them."

"You mean like a blind shot."

"Exactly. Every shinobi has their blind shots, and most of them don't know how to protect it. But Ryota-sensei told me that if I know where it is, I could easily protect it by using a substitution jutsu or some other kind of Ninjutsu."

"Wow, I never realized that before."

"Not a lot of people do. Anyway, Ryuu-sensei is my Taijutsu sensei. In his sessions, we basically in end sparring each other. He said that Taijutsu alone can be very deadly, but mixing it with Gen or Ninjutsu can make it even deadlier. Taijutsu teaches you how hard to hit the opponent and Gen and Ninjutsu will hep confuse your opponent long enough to get in a decent kick or punch." Liyenn explained.

"I see. Your senseis are really smart." Naruto exclaimed.

"I know they are. Anyway, Saburo-sensei is probably the youngest sensei I had. He's also Ryota-sensei's younger brother and the other person who helped kill Yoshi-sensei. He's probably the smartest of them all too. Saburo-sensei was a medic-nin. He taught me everything about the human body - where the vital organs were and how deep you would have to penetrate the flesh to get to them, what and where all the pressure points were along with the locations of all of the main blood vessels. He showed me what to do to give the victim either a quick and painless death, or a long, torturing one." Liyenn continued. She didn't smile when she said this. In fact, her smile faded. "He seems to want to let me go too, but he's too afraid of Master-sama to ask like Yoshi-sensei did. Everyone in the Allegiants is afraid of Master-sama."

"Why? Is he really that strong of a shinobi?" Naruto looked puzzled.

"Actually, Master-sama is not even a shinobi."

"Wha-?" Naruto said. _Wow, he's a lot like Gato..._

"He hires the deadliest of shinobi and gets them to do his dirty work." Liyenn sighed but suddenly smiled. "So, what are we going to do when we get to Konoha?" she asked, trying to change the subject and catching Naruto of guard.

"Well, I dunno if you're going to move yet or not. What do you think your mom's gonna say?"

Liyenn smiled. "Well, I pretty sure she's gonna say yes if she hasn't already. I wouldn't be surprise if she is already packing."

"Yahoo!" Naruto yelled. He jumped into the air out of excitement. Liyenn laughed, and everyone else wondered what the hell was going on. But, it became clear when Naruto started talking again. "I'll have to show you around the village and take you to all the best spots and show off my new friend to everyone in the village!" He stopped and blushed slightly to his last few words. Thankfully, Liyenn didn't noticed. She was too busy laughing at him to notice. She didn't seem to care that he wanted her to be his friend and his friend only, or at least for a little while.

"Oh, Liyenn. There's something I need to warn you about." Naruto said suddenly, his tone changed to very serious and he turned his volume down quickly too.

Liyenn stopped laughing. He was really serious. "What? What do you need to warn me about?"

"Well, since you're going to be hanging around with me, that also means you're going to have to hang around with Sasuke, since we're on the same team."

"Yeah, ok."

"I just wanted to warn you about Sasuke's fan girls." He looked at Liyenn, who, in turn, gave him a puzzled look.

"Sasuke has fan girls? How come?"

"Well, he did graduate from the academy with the highest scores, and a lot of the girls think he's all that. You know, good looking, intelligent, that kind of thing." Liyenn still looked a little confused. "The girls hate it when Sasuke's around other girls. That's mainly what I wanted to warn you about."

Liyenn glanced back at Sasuke, who had Sakura drooling over him. She blinked and turned back to Naruto. "It's hard to imagine Sasuke having any fan girls. He doesn't seem like he's the nicest person in the world. In fact, he seems moody." Liyenn observed. "But, if that's what those crazy girls like, then I guess it's ok."

"Yeah, well. I just thought I should warn you. The girls are pretty protective over 'their Sasuke-kun', like he goes out with them. They believe that if he's with another girl, that's she after him as well. They attack each other on a regular basis." Naruto looked down. He looked kind of sad. _No one cared for me like that..._

Liyenn raised her hands above her head to stretch and then rested them upon her head. "Well, if you really think I can't handle a few lovesick kunoichi on my own, then maybe you shouldn't leave my side when we get to Konoha." Naruto stopped in his tracks. He had _NOT_ excepted to hear those words to come from Liyenn's mouth. She was basically telling him to be her protector and to never leave her alone, plus she was making it seen like he didn't think she was strong enough.

Liyenn stopped when she realized that Naruto wasn't beside her anymore. She looked back at him and saw the shock in his eyes. She smiled widely. Naruto blushed when Liyenn smiled at his surprised expression. He didn't know what it was, but this girl had some sort of power over him - one that made him not want to leave her, that made him blush all the time when she is around. "Are you coming Naruto? Or are you going to stand there for the rest of the day?" She smirked. By this time, everyone else had caught up to them, as they were all standing around Naruto, wondering what Liyenn had said to make him act like this.

"Why you...!" he growled playfully. He began running towards her.

Liyenn saw Naruto coming, so she decided to make a game out of it. She ran too, but away from him, making him chase her. The others just walked a normal pace behind them. "You'll never catch me, Naruto!" she called back to him. She laughed as she ran. This was the most fun she had in years.

They ran for about fifteen minutes before Liyenn tripped over a risen root. She fell flat on her face into the dirt below her. Naruto stopped, realizing what had just happened. He ran to her aid, afraid that she was hurt. When he approached her, he could hear her muffled laugh. He smiled when he heard this. At least she was ok, but he had to ask anyway. "Hey, are you ok?" he asked her.

Liyenn rolled over, her dirt covered face beamed up at Naruto. "I'm fine." She got up and wiped the dirt off of her face. "Looks like you were able to catch me after all." she giggled. She paused in her giggling and looked around. "We're about fifteen minutes away from the shrine now. We should wait for the others to catch up."

"Yeah, we should."

Liyenn and Naruto waited for everyone. They sat on the tree root that had tripped Liyenn up, and waited, and waited, and waited. Liyenn groaned impatiently as she waited. It only took about twenty minutes for them to show up. Liyenn stood and stretched. "It's about time you guys caught up. I was beginning to think you guys got lost or something."

"Oh, sorry. We decided to take our time." Kakashi began. "The ruins are just too amazing to run by without taking a good look at them."

"Whatever. C'mon. We're almost there!" Liyenn exclaimed as she started to run again. Naruto was at her heels and everyone else just followed him. After five minutes of running, everyone stopped, trying to catch their breath. Liyenn was fast, or at least faster than expected. There before them was a giant tree with a rope ladder going up the side. Their eyes followed the rope ladder until they rested upon the hut in the branches. It was old looking and there was moss growing on it.

"Um, Liyenn, are you sure this place is safe?" Sakura asked, gulping at the height they would have to climb. The floor boards didn't look the safest either.

"It's perfectly fine. I come up here all the time." Liyenn stated. She headed towards the rope ladder and started climbing.

The others followed her reluctantly. They were afraid that the hut wouldn't be able to hold all of them. The hut appeared to be over a hundred years old. As they stepped onto the platform, the boards creaked.

"How old is this place?" Sasuke finally spat out the question they were all wondering.

"Well, it's over a thousand years old, but all the rotting wood had been replaced just before the Phoenix died, so, right now, it's all fairly new." Liyenn couldn't help but laugh at the expressions she got. It made her wish she had a camera. "It's been left here like this since she died."

"Wow... Hey Liyenn? Why's the Phoenix's hut so far away from the rest of the village?"

"Well, Naruto, this tree use to be at the heart of my village, before most of it was destroyed. She just never bothered to move her home."

"Oh, I see."

Liyenn led the group inside of the hut. Inside, there was a small bed, an old, wooden wardrobe, a table with two chairs, a small fire pit, and a desk that was littered with all kinds. The walls were plastered with maps and pictures of celestial beast and beings. Sasuke moved over to the desk to look at the stuff on it, while Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi looked at the posters on the walls.

Sasuke noticed a couple of books on the desk and decided to take a look. The first one was a journal of some sort that was written in a weird language. The second was in human tongue and he was able to read it. "Hey, Liyenn."

"Yeah, Sasuke?"

"What is this?" He was looking at the books when he spoke.

"Oh, those. The smaller, leather book is the Phoenix's journal. It's written in her own tongue, so nobody was able to read it."

"You should be able to read though, right? I mean, you do have her spirit inside of you."

Liyenn blinked. She never actually tried reading the Phoenix's journal, so she didn't actually know if she could read it or not. "Well, I haven't really explored all of the traits that I get from the Phoenix, so I don't really know. Anyway, the second book is one she written her our tongue so that we would know more about where she came from."

"Is that what the pictures are for, too?" Kakashi asked, looking at the pictures on the wall.

"Actually, yes. The Phoenix drew them herself. She told me that there were others who were banished from the heavens with her. She drew these for in case anyone sees them." Liyenn spent the rest of the morning explaining things about the Phoenix; what the purpose of her belongings were and all that fun stuff. It was getting close to lunchtime, so Liyenn started gathering wood for a small fire.

"Hey, did you need any help with that?" Naruto offered.

"No, that's ok." Liyenn smiled as she placed the wood into a stone circle. She then pulled out a kunai.

"What are you going to do with that?" Sakura asked.

"Light a fire."

"Huh? But how?"

"Watch and learn." Liyenn held the kunai out in her hand and it suddenly bursted into flames.

Sakura gasped. "Liyenn! What are you doing?! Your hand's on fire!" she screamed.

Liyenn just smirked. "I know." She then threw the kunai into the pile of wood. It quickly caught fire. She reached into the fire and pulled out her kunai. "No use wasting a good kunai." she stated, smirking at Sakura's horrified expression.

"That... that didn't hurt you?' Sakura sputtered.

"Nope." Liyenn smiled. "I already told you. It's because of the Phoenix. I'm immune to all kinds of fire damage."

"That's so cool!" Naruto exclaimed. "What other things can the Phoenix make you do?!"

"Well, most of my fire jutsus come from the Phoenix. The Phoenix also lends me her chakra, so I pretty much have an unlimited supply. Plus the Phoenix helps improve my speed and my ability to defend as well, considering she was a warrior." Liyenn explained as she placed a kettle into the fire. She took out the rice balls her mother had packed earlier and handed them out to everyone.

"So, this Phoenix gives you a lot of strength, but what does she get in return?" Kakashi said, turning down the rice ball.

Liyenn frowned when Kakashi declined, but answered his question just the same. "Well, if she stays with me, she doesn't have to face her father yet." Liyenn laid back, looking up through the trees. "I told you before, the Phoenix done something to disrespect her father. She hasn't face him since he banished her."

"Hey, Liyenn? Are there any set backs from having the Phoenix inside of you?"

"What do you mean, Naruto?" Liyenn turned her head so she could look at him. She noticed the look on his face and realized what he meant. "Oh, you mean like that. Well, yeah. People in the village got jealous, and so they judged me. They don't believe that I am capable of making friends because they think that I think I'm all that, because the Phoenix chose me. But, those aren't the only set backs."

"Oh?"

"Well, yeah. The Phoenix herself may not be sealed inside of me, but I have seals on my shoulders. The reason for this is that my body's too weak to be able to use the Phoenix's wings. The seals are there to prevent me from using her wings until my body is strong enough. But, if I try to use them before then, I would probably died." Naruto gave a horrified gasp. "The wings are just that big. They would probably rip my body apart if they were to spread before I was ready."

"Well, that certainly is a set back, now isn't it?" Kakashi said, sounding sarcastic.

"No kidding." Sasuke commented, sounding just as sarcastic.

"Another set back, is the memory I get from her."

"Wait, wouldn't having a good memory be a good thing?" Sakura asked.

"Well, yeah, when you remember what you want to."

"I don't get it. What's so bad about having a good memory."

"Well, Sakura, you try having to remember your father's death with every detail included." Sakura hushed up after that. "I remember things I don't want to, like my father's death. Not only do I remember things, but I remember every detail along with it."

Naruto felt sad for Liyenn when he heard this. He knew it had to hurt her, which was why she dreamt about things like she did. He didn't like the thought of Liyenn hurting. The kettle whistled at everyone as if trying to tell them that the water was ready. Liyenn reached in and grabbed the kettle out of the fire. She pulled out some cups of instant ramen and handed them out. Kakashi again declined his shared and again Liyenn frowned at him. "It's healthy to eat at mealtimes, ya know." Liyenn said. She sounded like she was frustrated by him.

"I know. I just rather not eat right now." Kakashi said.

"Suit yourself." Liyenn turned to Naruto and the others. "Have you guys ever seen him eat?"

"No. We haven't actually." Sakura said, thinking about it. "I guess he ate last night, but I didn't really noticed."

"We've never even seen him take off his mask." Naruto commented.

"Oh well then." Liyenn peeled off the cover of the ramen cup and poured in the water into it. She proceeded to pour water into everyone else's cups considering the kettle was still too hot for them to touch yet. She received a 'Thanks', and she began eating her food. She took the remaining bit of water from her canteen and poured it in the glasses that she had with her. She reached for her own glass to pour herself a drink when the glass broke. She stopped, panic spread across her face. "Momma..." she whispered. A lump formed in her throat as her bad feeling got worse.

"Liyenn? What's wrong?" Naruto looked concerned, along with the others.

Liyenn looked at the others. Instead of speaking to them, she turned and started running. "Momma! Please be ok..." she cried, praying to herself.

"Liyenn! Wait up!" Naruto called after her. But she was already gone. He started running as well, and he was followed by Kakashi. Something wasn't right, he just knew it.

Within fifteen minutes, Naruto and Kakashi reached the Ogokasi mansion. They searched the house for any sign of Liyenn. They founded her in her mother's room. She was staring at something. Naruto and Kakashi walked into the room to see what it was. Yokomo was lying on the floor in a puddle of blood as blood flowed out of her chest. Naruto looked around the room and noticed a needle sticking out of the wall. It was covered in blood as well.

"Hey guys. Look at this."

Kakashi walked over and examined the needle. "It seems to be what killed her."

"What direction did it come from?" Liyenn asked angrily. Kakashi turned to face her, and what he saw frightened him a bit. The rage in that girl's eyes was enough to kill someone, and he knew that was what she wanted to do. He felt like he'd be killed if he didn't give her an answer.

"Well, it came from over there. Liyenn, I really think you should - " Before he could finish his sentence, Liyenn was already out the opened window, with Naruto only a minute behind her. Kakashi sighed and kneeled down beside Yokomo's body. _Well, I gues you got your wish, Yokomo-san..._

Liyenn ran through the trees at a sound breaking speed. Within two minutes, Liyenn saw two men. It was abnormal to see people this far into the forest so Liyenn knew that they were it.

Without hesitation, Liyenn flung a kunai that hit one of the men across the neck. It cut him so deep that his head was being held on only by the skin on the back of his neck. He fell over as Liyenn grabbed the throat of the second man. She gasped when she saw who it was. "Ryo-sensei?!"

* * *

**People Introduced:**

**The Allegiants** - The organization that Liyenn works for. It was founded by her master and is run by him. The name is only a cover up for what her master actually has planned for the world.

**Seven Shinobi Senseis of the Allegiants** - Yoshi, Osamu, Rokuro, Ryo, Ryota, Ryuu, and Saburo. Seven shinobi that were hired by the Allegiants to train new the shinobi who had joined them. Each of them teach something different, normally in their own field of expertise. They also had different roles within the Allegiants as well.

**Jutsus Used:**

_None_

**A/N:** Ooo, cliffhangers. That's the end of chapter eight. Hope you liked it! Oh, for those who don't know, -koi means lover.


	9. Becoming Free

**A/N:** Here's chapter nine. A little more action in this chapter. I hope you like it!

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**Chapter Nine:**

**Becoming Free**

"Ryo-sensei?!" Liyenn exclaimed angrily. "What the hell are you doing here?!" she barked. He wouldn't answer her, so she dug her fingernails into the skin on his neck. "Answer me, dammit!" she demanded. Blood trickled down her arm, but she didn't flinch.

"Master-sama... sent me." he said as he struggled under Liyenn's grip. He was much taller than her, but she still managed to get a good grip on him.

"Why?"

"He said... he said that the disease wasn't killing her fast... enough. He said that... he said that the old woman was only in the way... of him gaining control." He was losing breath, his vision fading.

"Control of what?! What did he think he could accomplish by killing my mother?!" She was screaming at him. Her grip tightened, causing him to fall to the ground.

"He wanted... the Phoenix..."

Ryo couldn't help but answer her questions. It wasn't likely that he was going to live and Liyenn had the right to know the truth. He, along with her other senseis, wanted her to know, but was afraid that their master would find out. They didn't know what he would do to them and they were also afraid for Liyenn. Nobody knew what he would do to her without her senseis there to protect her. Besides, he would rather die at her hands than work for Master-sama for another day.

He looked up into Liyenn's eyes, expecting to see the ice blue staring back at him. But, he didn't see the ice blue. Instead, he saw amber, bird-like eyes glaring down upon him. They were filled with hatred, which was to be expected. He had betrayed her and killed the only person she had left. But he saw something else that surprised him, something he had never seen before. Ryo saw tears building up in Liyenn's eyes. He had to say something, he just had to. "Liyenn. I'm sorry." Liyenn looked taken aback by this. "Liyenn, please, finish it. Then go get the freedom that Yoshi wanted for you."

"Shut up!" Liyenn cried.

"Liyenn, please. You're the only one who can stop him. And finish us all off. We don't deserve to live after what we did. Just kill me and get it over with..."

Ryo closed his eyes and waited for his death. Liyenn didn't think she could do it at first, seeing he was asking her to kill their master. This meant her wanted her to be free as well and that he actually cared for her. But, he wanted to die and she didn't think she could forgive him for killing her mother. She squeezed her hand harder until Ryo's throat exploded in her hand. Blood splattered everywhere.

Liyenn, not knowing what to do with herself, sat under a near by tree and started to sob. She was all alone.

* * *

Naruto tried his best to catch up with Liyenn, but she was moving so fast that he could barely see her move. He was worried about her. He never seen anyone act like that before. Liyenn had completely changed in only a matter of seconds. He ran as quickly as he could, trying to keep up. When he finally did catch up to Liyenn, the sight of the surrounding area frightened him. 

There were two bloody corpses lying on the ground, one of them face down into the mud and the second was facing upward. Naruto saw what was done to him. The body's throat was completely crushed. He looked around, he hadn't seen Liyenn yet. Where was she?

Naruto was about to leap into the trees and keep going when he heard a faint sobbing coming from near by. "Liyenn?" He walked towards the sobbing and saw her. She was sitting underneath a tree, blood splattered on her arm pieces. He knelt down beside her and rested his hand on her shoulder. "Liyenn?"

Liyenn couldn't look at him, not after what she just done. She had just murdered two people out of a fit of rage. She felt bad, and knew the only way for her to become free was to murder some more.

"Did you do this, Liyenn?" She nodded, unable to speak. Naruto sighed. What was he suppose to do now? "Liyenn? Look at me, please?" Naruto asked. He was moving his head, trying to get her to look at him. But, she wouldn't. Liyenn wouldn't even left her head. "I know it must be hard for you to deal with, but-"

"You don't know anything!" Liyenn screamed, cutting him off. "You don't know what it feels like to know that you're the reason why you're always alone! You were able to convince people that you weren't a monster! Sakura and Sasuke seems to trust you! Even if it is only a little bit!" She continued to scream, but now she was looking at Naruto. Naruto could now see the tears that were streaming down her face and the hurt that reflected in her eyes. "You weren't the cause of your loneliness! Something else was! But me... I end up killing everyone who I get close to! And if I didn't kill them myself, I'm the reason! One way or another!" she screamed, now looking away from him.

"Liyenn..." Liyenn stopped and looked up at Naruto. He was... he was crying! "Please stop crying." he begged. When she didn't answer, Naruto continued. "For some reason, it hurts me to see you get hurt. But it hurts me more when you blame yourself." he said quietly. "We may only became friends recently, but, I dunno. Just please stop blaming yourself!"

Liyenn stared at Naruto in disbelief. He was crying because Liyenn was blaming herself for things he didn't know much about. The part of this that struck her the most, was the fact that he was hurting for her. "Naruto, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." she said as she started sobbing again.

Instead of speaking, Naruto did something he probably wouldn't do to anyone else, except for maybe Sakura if she would allow it. Naruto gripped his hands on both of Liyenn's shoulders and pulled her into him. He wrapped his arms around her small body and held her tightly to him. He wanted to protect her from everything, he wanted to know that he could help change her mind.

Liyenn's sobs were muffled by Naruto's jacket. "You can trust me, Liyenn. I won't hurt you, nor will I let anyone else hurt you." Naruto whispered into her ear. This only made Liyenn sob harder. Why did he care so much?! Why did she cared that he did?

"Why?" a muffled voice said.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at Liyenn. She looked so confused, so hurt, like she was ready to break.

"Why would you do that for me?"

"Well, Liyenn, you're my friend, and friends protect each other no matter what. They're something worth fighting for, something not worth giving up." Liyenn was quiet after that. Naruto pulled away from her and buried the two bodies. When he was finished, he walked back over to Liyenn. "We should get back, or else Kakashi-sensei will start to worry." Naruto said, holding his hand out to help her up. Liyenn took it and stood up, only to find herself swaying on the spot. "Are you ok, Liyenn?" Naruto asked, catching her as she swayed a little to far.

"I think I might've used up all of my physical energy." Liyenn said, trying to stand up straight. It didn't work; she just ended up swaying again.

"Here." Naruto offered. He crouched down in front of Liyenn and was offering her a ride on his back.

"Are you sure?" Liyenn didn't really think this was a good idea.

"Yeah, it's no problem. Don't you worry one bit." Liyenn reluctantly climbed onto Naruto's back. He stood, and Liyenn clutched onto him for dear life. She afraid that he was going to drop her. "I won't drop you, Liyenn. Trust me."

Naruto walked through the trees with Liyenn on his back. She was really light. By the time the village came into view, Liyenn's arms dangled and she had her head rested on the back of Naruto's shoulder. She had her eyes closed, but she had a small smile on. If this was how her life was going to turn out, she was glad that of all people, Naruto was there to share it with her.

When they returned to the mansion, Sakura and Daiki ran to greet them. "Naruto! Where were you?! We were worried sick about?!" Sakura said as Liyenn slid off of Naruto's back.

"Liyenn-chan! Are you okay? I'm so sorry, child." Daiki exclaimed.

"We're fine, Sakura-chan." Naruto said, sounding a little glad that Sakura was worried about him.

"We're ok, Daiki-san. Where's Momma?"

Daiki sighed. "Come on, Liyenn-chan. I'll take you to her." Daiki led Liyenn away from the group and took her to the temple. There, in the centre of the temple, Yokomo's body laid. She was dressed in a white kimono and her hair was pull up. Liyenn ran over to her mother's body and started crying. Daiki walked over to Liyenn and rested his hand on her head. He patted her gently, knowing how hard this must be for her.

* * *

"We should really be heading back home. We shouldn't be intruding." Sakura argued with Naruto. 

"What are you saying?! That we should just abandon her when she needs us most?!" Naruto argued back. His sudden happiness of Sakura caring for him was gone, and he was beyond pissed.

"Well, no. But, Sakura's right. We shouldn't intrude on family matters." Sasuke said as Sakura glowed because Sasuke said that _she_ was right.

"But she needs us! I don't think it would be fair if we leave her! After all, they did take us in even though they probably couldn't afford it! Yokomo-san was sick and she still treated us kindly and still let us stay there!" Naruto argued. Right now, he didn't care whether he was arguing Sakura, Sasuke, or even Hokage-sama, he was determined to stay.

Kakashi only sighed. He knew that Naruto was right and that they should stay to pay their respects. He also had a promise to keep to Yokomo.

"Liyenn needs me! So, I don't care what you guys think, 'cause I'm staying!"

"Well, I guess it's settled then." Kakashi finally said.

"Huh?" Sasuke and Sakura both reacted at the same time.

"We can't just leave Naruto here by himself. The road back to Konoha is just too dangerous for anyone to travel alone." Kakashi stated. "Plus, Liyenn _does_ need us now, more than ever. We should pay our respects to Yokomo for allowing us to stay at her place. It's only right." Kakashi said, finally admitting that he agreed with Naruto.

So, it was decided that they were staying. They saw Liyenn being led into her home by Daiki and decided to go in too. When they got into the house, Daiki greeted them. "Liyenn-chan's in her room getting changed for the service. Well you be staying for it, Kakashi-kun?"

"Of course. We all are, Daiki-san. It's the least we could do." Kakashi nodded.

Liyenn came down the stairs and faced everyone. She was wearing a short, black kimono and white socks. Her hair was down and she was carrying a pair of zori sandals with black straps. "You stayed." Liyenn looked doubtful, like she didn't believe they were staying.

"Yeah, of course. We couldn't leave you at a time like this." Naruto said, stepping closer to her. She could tell that he was sincere.

"Thank you." she said with a small, sad smile.

The service went ahead that same day. Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke felt a little out of place, being among people who knew Yokomo better than they did and that they weren't wearing black clothing. But, they stayed and paid their respects just the same.

Naruto glanced over to Liyenn, who was standing in the front of the crowd by herself. She was crying and nobody seem to want to help her.

"Argh! That bastard! Smirking when she's hurt like that!" Sakura hissed in disgust. Naruto looked around the room to see what she was talking about. Then he saw it. Kuro was standing by his younger brother with a smug look on his face. Naruto frowned and cursed in under his breath. It was like Kuro was happy that Liyenn was hurting, suffering.

Naruto looked around the room again and noticed how most of the adults were whispering among one another. This also made Naruto curse. They should be helping Liyenn, not gossiping like there was no tomorrow. He returned his gaze to Liyenn. She was standing there all alone, her small body quivering as she sobbed. He couldn't take it anymore, seeing her like that, so walked over beside her and laid his hand on her shoulder.

Without hesitation or even looking to see who it was, Liyenn spun around and smothered herself into the person who had just touched her. She gripped onto the person's clothing and pressed herself as close as she could possibly to the person's body.

Naruto was afraid to move, he didn't know what to do. Liyenn's reaction caught him off guard. Never before has he seen someone do that kind of thing. It worried him. At that moment, Liyenn was vulnerable, willing to run into the arms of anyone. After the shock had worn off, Naruto raised his arms and wrapped them around Liyenn. He let her cry there. Naruto looked over at Kuro and noticed that he didn't have his smirk anymore. _That wiped that smirk of your face, now didn't it?_ Naruto mentally taunted.

Sakura thought what Naruto did was sweet. She knew, just as well as Kakashi and Sasuke, that Liyenn needed moral support right now more than anything. Sakura looked at Kuro and saw that his smirk was gone. _What's with him? It's like he loves seeing Liyenn get hurt and have no support..._ Sakura frowned and continued to look around the room. Most of the adults looked shocked, not just because of Liyenn's actions, but because Naruto actually went over to her. Sakura heard them muttering something about them never being able to imagine Liyenn bringing herself low enough to have friends. Her frown worsen. How sick could these people be?

When they went to bury Yokomo, everyone gathered at the little island. Liyenn removed her footwear before stepping onto the grass, and Naruto and Sasuke did the same. Sakura and Kakashi didn't, along with everyone else, for they didn't understand reasoning behind the action. They buried Yokomo adjacent to her husband.

When the service was concluded, Liyenn went home. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi followed her. Moments after, people from the village piled into the Ogokasi Mansion and began telling Liyenn how sorry they were for her. Sakura grunted in disgust, as did Naruto. They both walked up to Liyenn to speak.

"You know, Liyenn, the people in your village disgust me." Sakura commented loudly. Everyone stopped what they were doing.

"What do you mean, Sakura?" Liyenn asked in a very monotone voice.

"Well, all throughout the service, they were gossiping about you and your new friends. They were saying things like 'Wow, Liyenn lower her standards long enough to make friends' and stuff like that. Now, they're here lying to you." Sakura said. She sounded angry and was speaking louder than normal.

"Not only that, but they wouldn't left one finger to support you when you needed it the most. In fact, one person was smiling because you were crying." Naruto said. He sounded just as angry as Sakura and was just as loud.

"Kuro..." Liyenn whispered. Naruto and Sakura nodded. Nobody moved, not knowing what to do. These strangers had noticed and heard things they weren't suppose to.

"I made a promise to you, Liyenn. I told you that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you." Naruto said softly, resting a hand on Liyenn's shoulder. Liyenn looked at him and so did Sakura.

"You really promised her that, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Well, yeah, Sakura-chan. Liyenn needed friends, people she could trust. Not like the people of this village." He snapped his last sentence and darted his glance at the groups of villagers that had gathered there. They all looked down at the floor in shame. One group of six older girls looked at each other and walked over to Liyenn. Among them, was Etsuko.

"Liyenn-chan?" Etsuko asked. Liyenn just looked at Etsuko and the other girls. "We wanted to say that we were sorry."

"Etsuko-chan's right. We feel really bad." one of the other girls said.

"We just treated you the only way we knew how - the way our parents and the other adults in the village treated you." another one added.

"We are really sorry." a third said.

"I know it wasn't your fault." Liyenn said, looking down at the floor. "I thank you for your courage to tell me so. Etsuko, Gina, Haruko, Ayame, Chika, Arisu." With that, Liyenn was smothered by the six girls as they caught her into a group hug.

"You've made yourself a good group of friends there, Liyenn-chan." Ayame commented.

"You think so?"

"Yes. And the blonde one's kind of cute, Liyenn-chan." Arisu giggled as Liyenn blushed slightly.

"You better watch yourself, Liyenn-chan, or he'll rob your heart before you even know it." Haruko whispered. Liyenn's slight blush deepened and the girls giggled.

"I suppose you'll be going back to Konoha with them." Etsuko said with a sighed. Liyenn looked confused. "Well, with my idiotic brother here, you probably wouldn't want to live here anymore."

"Besides, Liyenn-chan, you'll live better there." Gina said.

"And there's nothing left here for you anymore." Hikaru added.

"But, the village - " Liyenn started.

"The village can handle itself, Liyenn-chan. Go on, be free." Chika reassured her. Liyenn gave a smile and nodded.

By mid-afternoon, Liyenn had all of her things packed. She dragged her suitcases down the stairs and out of the house. She flung her belongings into a small cart that Daisuke, the grave keeper, had given her as a farewell present. She moved it to the entrance of the village and rested it there.

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys in Konoha." Liyenn said, turning to Naruto and the others.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Sakura asked.

"No. I've got something to take care of first." Liyenn answered.

"What about your stuff?" Naruto's gaze was on the cart.

"I'll come back and get it."

"I'll take it for you." Naruto offered. Liyenn blinked. "That way, all you'll have to do is come to the village. You won't have to make an extra stop."

Liyenn thought about it for a moment. "Alright. But, don't strain yourself." Liyenn said when she finally agreed. And with that, she took off. The faster she got this over with, the better.

After an hour of running, Liyenn came across a small cottage. "Master-sama!" she yelled as she slammed the front door open.

"Liyenn? What a surprise! I wasn't expecting you for another couple of days." her master said. He tried to be sincere, but Liyenn wasn't buying it. There he sat in front of her, the man that had ordered for her mother to be killed. He didn't look no older than Kakashi. His hair was blonde with blackened tips, his bangs covering half of his face. His bright, green eye stared back at Liyenn.

"Things changed."

"What do you mean?" her master said. Liyenn then noticed the four other men that was in the room with them. They were her senseis; Rokuro, Ryota, Ryuu, and Saburo.

"Momma's dead." Liyenn answered coldly. "Oh, and I quit." Liyenn added.

"What?! You can't quit! We have a contract!"

"Not anymore. The deal was that if I worked for you, you would paid for Momma's treatments. Since Momma's dead, I don't have to work here anymore." Liyenn turned to leave but was stopped by Ryota. Liyenn looked at Ryota. His face was stern, but his eyes were soft and showed Liyenn that he wished to die. She turned back around. "You just want the Phoenix, don't ya? That's why you had Momma murdered. Or well, that's what Ryo-sensei told me." She smirked.

"He told you?!" Her master was going to make a mental note to take care of him later, but Liyenn spoke first.

"He didn't have a choice in the matter. I mean, I had his throat in my hand."

Her master looked at her in disbelief. "You killed him?"

"Well yeah. And that's what I'm gonna do to you." She smiled. Her master looked horrified. Liyenn took out some kunai and threw them in the directions of her senseis. One hit Ryota in the throat, another hit Rokuro in the head, a third landed in Ryuu's heart, the last one hit Saburo in the stomach.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" her master yelled. Liyenn smiled and made a hand sign. Before his eyes, Ryota, Ryuu, Rokuro, and Saburo caught flame from the inside out. He watched has his men burned, screaming in pain. All of them looked at Liyenn before their death and thanked her. "Wh-what is - is the meaning of this?!" Her master was now shaking in fear.

"What's wrong, Master-sama? Not so tough without your minions, now are ya?"

Her master froze in fear. She was behind him somehow. He felt his knees crack as Liyenn delivered him a powerful kick to the knees. He could move his legs! He managed to turn over to face Liyenn, who was standing directly over him. Liyenn brought her foot down hard on his chest and ended up breaking a couple ribs, causing him to lose his breath. He was choking from both the smoke and his crushed ribs. Liyenn grabbed her master around the neck and raised him up to meet him face-to-face. "This is for Momma." was the last thing he heard. Liyenn raised her other hand up and forcefully pushed his head, breaking his neck and tearing his throat.

Liyenn left the scene covered in soot. The sun was beginning to set. Since Naruto had taken her cart with him, she could just run all the way to Konoha and hopefully get there before dark. Liyenn ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She had been running for almost an hour and a half when she first saw the gates of Konoha. She smiled when she saw them and she started to speed up. Within another half a hour, Liyenn stopped in front of the gate. The sun was almost gone from sight, but she had made it. Not only that, but she was free. She was finally free.

"Welcome to Konoha. Please state your business." said a man that Liyenn assumed to the gate watcher.

"I'm looking for Uzumaki Naruto. Can you have him summoned here, please?" Liyenn asked politely. The two men gazed back at her. Was this a joke or something? No one has asked to see Naruto before. The two men didn't get a chance to have Naruto summoned, as he appeared there, seemingly running away from something... or someone. Liyenn saw him, and began waving her hands. "Naruto!" she called.

Naruto stopped running and looked for whoever called his name. When he saw who it was, he gave a big smile and ran over to her. "Liyenn, you made!" He looked at her and his smile faded slightly. "Liyenn, what happened? You're covered in soot?"

"That doesn't matter, Naruto. I'm free."

* * *

**People Introduced:**

**Takako Gina** - Oldest child of the Takako Clan; Wielders of Wind. She hangs around with the other girls in the village as well as work hard in the village's garden. She was jealous of Liyenn being the talk of most of the adults in the village. Since she had became friends with Etsuko, Gina's jealousy lefted as she had friends that liked her.

**Sachiko Haruko** - Oldest child of the Sachiko Clan; Clan of Lightning. Haruko is pretty much a happy girl. She didn't quite understand what everyone had against Liyenn, considering that she didn't know Liyenn very well. She wishes to be friends with Liyenn, but she lets the adults in the village keep her from that. She once had a crush on Habu, Liyenn's older brother.

**Ayame** - One of the orphans that lives in the Hidden Forest Village. Her parents were killed in the attack of the thunder cat demon. At first, Ayame didn't get along well with the other orphans, because she was hurting over her parents's death. Afterwards, she meets up with Arisu and Chika and they become good friends. When she was old enough to work, Ayame became friends with Etsuko, Gina, and Haruko.

**Arisu** - One of the orphans that lives in the Hidden Forest Village. Arisu never knew her mother as she died giving birth to Arisu. Arisu was raised by her father until he was killed by the cat-demon's attack. Despite losing her father, Arisu remained happy, and tried to help other people through their losses. Arisu feels sorry for Liyenn but won't get involve since Liyenn had her mother all along.

**Chika** - One of the orphans that lives in the Hidden Forest Village. Her parents died in the attack of the thunder cat-demon. Chika listens to other people and believes that if more than one person says it, then it must be true. This is why Chika never really treated Liyenn well.

**Daisuke** - The village's grave keeper. He is also Daiki's older brother. He lives in the small hut in front of the graveyard.

**Jutsus Used:**

_None_

**A/N:** That was chapter nine. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Lemme know what you think! Thanks for reading it!


	10. A Night in Konoha

**A/N:** Chapter Ten! Things has settled down a bit in this chapter.

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**Chapter Ten:**

**A Night in Konoha**

"I'm free, Naruto. I'm finally free." Liyenn rejoiced. Her face was beaming through the soot on her skin. Naruto knew what she meant and didn't ask any more questions.

"Welcome to Konoha, Liyenn." Naruto smiled at her. She looked really happy, despite her recent loss.

"Thanks, Naruto." Liyenn looked around. "Where's all my stuff? And, where am I staying?" she asked, looking puzzled.

"Oh, you're staying at my place until old man Hokage can find you a suitable place. I already took your things there."

"Oh, thanks." Liyenn blushed. "Um, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's the bath house?"

Naruto blinked. He hadn't thought about it. Liyenn was going to need her own personal space, not only because she was a different individual, but she because was a girl. "Err... I'll have to take you to the village's spa. My apartment's bath house isn't really, ugh... suitable for a girl like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Liyenn sounded offended.

"Oh, I didn't mean anything by it, Liyenn. It's just, it's not the cleanest, nor is the most private." Naruto said apologetically.

"Oh."

"I'll take you to my place so you can get your stuff. Then I'll take you to the spa."

"Ok."

Naurto and Liyenn walked through the village. Liyenn's eyes glowed in wonder as she saw all the new faces and all the new sights. The streets were busy, even at the break of sunset. Back home, people were normally confounded to their own homes by sun down. It amazed her. Naruto smiled at her expression. It was weird to see someone get excited about something he was already use to.

Naruto led Liyenn to his apartment and into his room. Liyenn's things were piled neatly into a corner. Liyenn took a whiff of the air in the room and could smell some sort of cleaner. She could tell the room was recently cleaned, possibly even that day. She walked over to her suitcases and opened one of them. She dug through her suitcase until she pulled out a couple pieces of clothes, a small basket, cleansing supplies and what appeared to be a wallet. "How much will it be?"

"Huh?" Naruto sounded confused.

"The spa. How much?"

"Oh. Don't worry about it." Naruto said. Liyenn looked at him with a confused look. She hulled out a bag and put her belongings into it. She put the strap over her shoulder, and turned to face Naruto. "I'm ready." she said, walking closer to him.

"Alright. Let's go." Naruto smiled. He led Liyenn back out into the village. He was now leading her into the busiest part of the village. He watched her face light up with excitement.

"Good evening and welcome. What can we do for you this evening?" A woman had greeted them when they entered the spa. She smiled at them, and looked at Liyenn. "I can guess what it is you want." Liyenn blushed, which made the woman laugh. "Right this way." The woman led Liyenn away, and came back shortly for Naruto. "What about you?"

"Nah, I'm just here with her." Naruto said. He handed the woman some money and waited. He waited, and waited, and waited. He was waiting for an hour before Liyenn finally came out into the waiting room. "It's about time." he muttered impatiently before looking up. He blushed when he looked at her.

She was no longer wearing her shorts, vest, and t-shirt, and her hair was no longer up. She was wearing a thick, light blue kimono with a black sash tied around her waist. He could see a thinner, white shirt in under her thick kimono. She was wearing white socks with the same sandals Naruto seen her wear to her mother's funeral. Now, Liyenn looked more like a woman than a young girl.

"I'm sorry. I guess I was dirtier than I thought." Liyenn beamed. Her bag hanged to one side and she tilted her head. "Where to now?" she asked.

Naruto blinked and realized that Liyenn was speaking. "Uh, what? Oh, I was gonna take you to Ichiraku Ramen."

"Ok. Lead the way." Liyenn smiled. Naruto blushed again, but managed to lead Liyenn outside.

"Um, I'll take your bag for you if you want." Naruto offered.

"What? Oh. That's ok. I can handle it."

"You sure? Cause, I don't mind." Naruto looked away.

"What?" Liyenn looked at him, trying to figure him out.

"It's just, you're dressed so nicely."

Liyenn's cheeks flushed slightly. She stopped and thought about it. "Well." she began. "If you really want to take it that badly, I guess it'll be ok." Naruto turned and looked at her. Liyenn took her bag off her shoulder and held it out for Naruto to take. Naruto smiled and took it from her. He slung it over his shoulder and continued on his way.

Liyenn started walking behind him. Naruto had commented on her bath kimono, which was something no one had done before. What processed him to say something like that? They walked for a while without speaking, both of them were deep in thought. They walked to Ichiraku Ramen and Naruto gestured for Liyenn to sit. "Two bowls of the usual, old man." Naruto grinned. "You're gonna love this, Liyenn. It's the best ramen ever!"

"Really?" Liyenn smiled. "I had some pretty good ramen before. Yoshi-tou-san use to make it for me all the time. I've always loved it."

"Just wait until you try it. I know you're gonna love it." Naruto grinned some more.

"Who's your friend, Naruto? I don't believe I've seen her before." the man behind the counter said.

"Oh, this is Ogokasi Liyenn. She just moved here." Naruto explained.

"Did you say 'Ogokasi'?" the man asked. He was eyeing Liyenn with interest.

"Yeah. Why?" Naruto questioned.

"As in Ogokasi Kenshin?"

Liyenn blinked. "Yeah. Ogokasi Kenshin was my father." Liyenn answered.

The older man laughed. "Well you imagine that?! Ogokasi Kenshin use to come to this ramen stand when I was only a waiter here. He was always so kind and never came without a story. He was our favourite costumer until young Naruto here started coming here." the old man laughed. He looked at Liyenn. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Teuchi. The waitress here is Ayame."

"It's nice to meet you." Liyenn smiled sweetly.

Teuchi smiled at her. "You definitely have your mother's smile." Liyenn blushed. "She was a beautiful woman, I can tell you that much right now."

"Thank you, Teuchi." Liyenn said gratefully. It was nice to meet people who once knew her parents, especially when they said good things about them. Ayame placed a bowl in front of Liyenn and Liyenn dug in. She hadn't eaten anything since that picnic she had with Naruto and the others at the Phoenix's hut, earlier that day. Naruto watched as Liyenn's eyes, once again, lit up with delight. Liyenn gasped after she swallowed. "Wow! You were right, Naruto! This is the best ramen!" Liyenn said before diving back into her bowl. Within ten minutes, Liyenn was finished her bowl. "Naruto?"

"Yeah Liyenn?"

"When you're done your first bowl, will you split a second one with me?"

Naruto blinked and looked into his own bowl. There was about a quarter of a dish left. _Wow. Liyenn must really like this ramen. She ate it faster than I could eat mine. Plus she's asking for more._ Naruto thought. But then he gave a small, barely noticeable sigh. He loved having Liyenn around, but, if things kept up, he would be in the hole. Naruto finished his remaining morsels and ordered a third bowl.

"Naruto? Could you come back here, please?" Ayame called from around the corner. Naruto looked puzzled, but went to the back like he was asked. Ayame and Teuchi led far enough to be out of earshot of Liyenn.

"She's a pretty one, Naruto." Teuchi commented.

"Huh?" Naruto was more confused now than ever.

"Where did you meet her to?" Ayame asked.

"I met her on the way back from the Land of Waves. What do you mean, old man?"

"She looks a lot like her mother when Yokomo was younger. I hadn't seen her in years." Teuchi sighed.

"Geez, old man. You sound like you were in love with her." Naruto sounded annoyed.

"Nah. But she did use to work here. Yokomo-chan was my co-worker."

"Liyenn-chan seems really sweet." Ayame smiled. Naruto questioned their intentions. These two had never acted this way towards any of Naruto's friends that were girls. But, he had to agree with the old man and Ayame. Liyenn was pretty, and she was sweet. But, what were they thinking?

Ayame noticed Naruto's questioning look. "Oh, don't worry, Naruto. We were just curious about her. She is new in the village and we just wanted to know how you met."

"Well, I told you. Can I go back and eat now?" Naruto asked impatiently. Teuchi and Ayame nodded and Naruto walked back to Liyenn.

When he saw her, Liyenn was playing with her chopsticks. Naruto stopped and watched her for a little bit. She was smiling softly and she was humming. She sat there, waiting patiently for Naruto to come back and for their next lot of food to arrive. Liyenn heard something ruffle, so she looked up only to see Naruto staring at her. She smiled and waved her hand to catch his attention. Naruto blinked and blushed, while Liyenn just smiled. "Welcome back." she greeted playfully.

"Sorry. I got lost in thought. That's all." Naruto sat down beside her. "Hey, what was that melody you were humming?"

"You heard that?" Liyenn asked. Naruto nodded and Liyenn's smiled faded slightly. "It was a melody the Phoenix use to hum to me when she was healing me. After the Phoenix died, Momma sung it to me as a lullaby before I went to bed." By now, Liyenn's smile was completely gone. Naruto noticed that her eyes had glassed over.

"I'm sorry." was all he could say.

Teuchi had brought out the third bowl of ramen. He could sense there was something wrong and frowned. "Is there anything wrong?" he asked as he sat the bowl in front of the two.

"I was thinking about Momma, that's all." Liyenn answered quietly.

"What happened?"

"She... died. Eariler today."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Teuchi said. "I know it must be hard for you, but you gotta look at the bright side." Liyenn looked up at Teuchi. "It's gonna take time before you get through it, but at least you have friends to help you." Teuchi said, nodding towards Naruto. "I'm pretty sure Naruto's not going to leave you now. Not for anything. And I know you can count on him. If he can't cheer you up, nobody can." Teuchi finished. He had made Naruto blushed with his compliment. Naruto side glanced at Liyenn. To his surprise, she didn't look sad anymore.

"You're right, Teuchi. I appreciated that. I know I have a good friend when it's someone like Naruto. I'm really glad I met him." She gave him a smile and began splitting the bowl of ramen. Teuchi smiled and went back to the kitchen.

Naruto, too, was grateful. Not because of what the old man said, but because of the fact that Liyenn had faith in him, that Liyenn believed that she had made a good choice by becoming his friend. He smiled.

Naruto and Liyenn ended up spending an entire hour at the ramen stand. They joked around with each other, and, when Naruto found out that Liyenn was ticklish, Naruto kept poking Liyenn, causing her to squeal in laughter. Naruto laughed when she did, which made Liyenn laugh even harder. He finally stopped tickling her when Liyenn fell off her stool and hurt her butt on the ground. "Owie..." she whined, rubbing to spot where it hurt, but she continued to laugh.

"Are you ok?" Naruto asked. He, too, was still laughing.

"Yeah. I'm fine." she said as she yawned.

"Looks like someone's getting tired." Ayame said, giggling at Liyenn. Liyenn gave a goofy smile and nodded.

"Well, we're closing up soon, so it's best if you two get going." Teuchi said, turning off the light in the kitchen. "I don't mind having you around, but you gotta leave a closing time." Teuchi smiled and turned to the sleepy Liyenn. He held out his hand to her. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Liyenn-chan."

Liyenn took his hand and shook it. "It was nice to meet you, Teuchi. You too, Ayame."

"Likewise. Liyenn-chan." Ayame said, smiling pleasantly.

Liyenn and Naruto waved goodbye to Teuchi and Ayame and started to head back to Naruto's apartment. They were still laughing but were starting to settle down. "Hey, Liyenn?"

"Yeah, Naruto?"

"I noticed that your sensei 'Tou-san'."

Liyenn smile softened and she looked up at the stars. "It's true. I called Yoshi-sensei 'Yoshi-tou-san'. Since Daddy died, I never had a male role model. Yoshi-tou-san was that model for me after I met him. I never called him 'tou-san' where there was other people, nor did I refer to him as that to anyone else, but I would call him that when we sat in his study and talked about random things. When nobody else was listening." Liyenn was still smiling when she finished, but she did stop walking. Naruto stopped as well, waiting for her.

"I'm glad he was good to you, Liyenn." he said. He smiled at her, which made her smile some more.

"Yoshi-tou-san was the best. But, I've met someone better." She smiled and walked passed him.

"Who?" Naruto asked her. He was very serious, he wanted to know.

"I'm not gonna tell you. " she teased.

"Aw, why not?" Naruto pouted.

"Cause I don't wanna." she stated in a very childish voice.

She started to jog a little bit. Naruto chased her for a little bit, but, he wanted to know the answer to his question. Yoshi had treated her well from what Liyenn told him. Who did she meet that was better than him? Was it himself?

He wasn't able to restrain himself. He had to know. He jumped up in front of her and caught her by the shoulders as she ran into him. Liyenn blushed when she hit him. When he gazed deep into her eyes, she blushed even more. "Tell me."

Liyenn blinked. "Huh?"

"Who did you meet that's better than Yoshi?"

"You really want to know?" Liyenn asked in disbelief. Naruto's curiosity amazed her. He was so serious and she could tell that he wasn't going to leave her alone until she gave him an answer. She sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you. Can you let me go first?" Naruto released her and she rubbed her shoulders. Instead of telling him up front, she decided to challenge him. "Well, who have I met recently that has shown kindness to me before they even knew my name?"

Naruto thought about this for a moment. He was never very good at tests, so it took him a while to get the recap. "Me?" he asked after several minutes.

"You got it." Liyenn said as she began walking again.

"I'm better than Yoshi?" Naruto asked, running the catch up with her. He was confused now.

"Well, yeah. You didn't even know who I was and you still helped me. That automatically makes you better than Yoshi-tou-san, but not better than Momma or Daddy since they loved me before I even existed." Liyenn said, staring ahead. "Yoshi-tou-san loved me like I was his own child, but only after he got to know me. You cared for me as soon as you found out what my goals were, which was before I told you my name."

Naruto understood now. His want to help someone in need made him better than the best. He smiled at Liyenn as she continued to walk. Her long, navy hair swayed as she walked as did her kimono. He had confidence that the friendship between Liyenn and himself would indeed become stronger. Liyenn stopped and looked back at Naruto. "You coming?" she asked, snapping Naruto out of his trance.

"Oh yeah."

They two walked the rest of the ways in silence. Liyenn yawned every two minutes until they got back to Naruto's apartment. Naruto unlocked the door and swung it open. Liyenn ran over to her suitcases and grabbed her pajamas. She looked at the bed and a question popped into her head. "Where am I going to sleep to?" she asked.

"You're gonna sleep in the bed. I'm taking the mat." Naruto said, taking a sleeping mat out from a closet.

"Are you sure that's ok?" Liyenn asked.

"I'm positive. Oh, you can get changed in there." Naruto said, pointing towards the toilet room.

"Kay." Liyenn nodded. She went and got changed. When she came out, Naruto had his bed made and was already sat up in it. Liyenn walked over to the bed and fell into it.

"You're really tired, aren't you?" Naruto asked, smiling at her in the darkness of his room.

"Mmmhmm." Liyenn murmured, not having enough energy to speak. Naruto chuckled as Liyenn snuggled in under her sheets. They smelt fresh but they still had the smell of Naruto in them. She smiled from in under the covers.

"Goodnight, Liyenn." Naruto said before laying down. Liyenn didn't respond, since she had already fallen asleep. Naruto chuckled again. "You were really that tired, huh Liyenn?" he asked her, even though he knew he would get no answer. He watched her sleep for a moment before turning in himself. Naruto smiled to himself before falling asleep. His new friend was here and tomorrow she will be officially an member of Konoha.

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**A/N:** No new people introduced and no jutsus used. People can be so nice, can't they? And others really like it. Anywho, hoped you all liked it. Lemme know wha cha think please! Thanks for reading this far! 


	11. Learning the Truth

**A/N:** Here's chapter eleven.

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**Chapter Eleven:**

**Learning the Truth**

Liyenn awoke to the sound of rushing feet and cursing. "What the?" she muttered so quietly that even she couldn't hear it. She pushed herself up to get a look at what was happening in the room around her. Her eyes squinted as the blankets slid off her shoulder, trying to adjust to the sunlight in the room.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"

When Liyenn's eyes finally adjusted, she saw room Naruto racing around the room with only his boxers and black T-shirt on. He had a cup of noodles in one hand and a toothbrush in the other. Liyenn couldn't help but giggle.

Naruto stopped what he was doing when he heard the giggling. He looked and saw Liyenn looking at him. "You're awake." Naruto said. He then realized that he was still in his boxers and ran to find his pants. When he got his pants done up, he returned his gaze to Liyenn. "How did you sleep last night?"

"The best I've slept in years." Liyenn smiled. Her smile faded slightly and her expression turned into a questioning one. "What's wrong anyway?"

"Oh, I over slept. I'm suppose to be meeting Kakashi-sensei in five minutes." When he looked, he noticed that Liyenn's pajamas were a size too big for her and that her sleeve was sliding off her shoulder, revealing the skin underneath along with a black mark. He gave her an inquiring look as she quickly pulled her sleeve up. He didn't want to seem nosey, so he just passed it off. "Hey. You should come with me."

"Huh?"

"To meet with Kakashi. He'd probably like to know that you made it here ok, since you did say you were coming."

"Ok." Liyenn nodded and got up. She stretched before moving and darted to the toilet room to get changed. She came out and went over to her suitcases. She hulled out a brush and pulled her hair back into a half ponytail. She turned, faced Naruto. "Ready." she stated.

Naruto blinked and hulled on his jacket and moved to the door. He let Liyenn out first and then left himself, locking his door behind him. They left the apartment and Naruto led Liyenn to the area in which they were to meet Kakashi and the others. They approached a bridge where they saw Sakura and Sasuke.

"Naruto! You're late!" Sakura yelled at him.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan." Naruto gave a nervous giggle. "I over slept."

"I'm not buying it Naruto! Why are you late?!"

"Sorry, it was my fault." Everyone stopped and looked at where the voice came from.

"Liyenn?" Sakura asked in disbelief. Naruto just looked Liyenn. He was wondering why she was taking the blame for this.

"Hi everyone." Liyenn smiled. "I got here last night and Naruto was showing me around. We didn't get back 'til late, so that's why he over slept. Sorry if he kept you waiting." Liyenn said, trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Well, I guess if that's the case, it's ok. Besides, Kakashi-sensei isn't here yet." Sakura said, seemingly believing Liyenn.

"If Kakashi-sensei's not here yet, then why did you yell at me?!" Naruto yelled.

"It doesn't matter if he's late if we are already gathered, but if he got here before you showed up, then there would be trouble." Sakura answered.

Naruto huffed as Liyenn looked around at the scenery. It was beautiful. The stream underneath them trickled quietly, the gentle breeze ruffling the trees and grass around them. She was about to give a small smile, but she realized how familiar this place was to her.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Liyenn looked up and saw Naruto grinning at her.

"Yeah, it is. But..."

"But?"

"I can't help it, but I got this feeling that I was here before." Naruto blinked and was about to say something when he was interrupted.

"You were." said a familiar voice. Liyenn looked up on top of a archway and saw Kakashi sitting there, smiling at her. Or, at least, she thought he was smiling at her. "It's good to know you made it alright, Liyenn."

Liyenn nodded in thanks, and continued to think hard about the place she was in. She perked up as she said, "I remember now. I was here some time, a while ago. When Daddy was still alive. You and... and..." Liyenn stopped to think. "And Kohaku brought me here." Liyenn finished.

Kakashi beamed at her. "You remembered." He turned to his students. "I have your new missions for you. I want you to take a look at this list of things to do while I take Liyenn somewhere. Make sure you finish your missions and try to get along." Kakashi sighed his last few words. He hopped off the archway and handed a piece of paper to Sakura. "Come with me, Liyenn. Someone wants to see you."

Liyenn followed Kakashi after she gave him a puzzled look. He walked with her to the centre of the village, asking her about her travels; When did you get here? Did you get here alright? - those kind of questions. Kakashi stopped in front of a building and turned to Liyenn. "This is the Administration Building. This is where all of the shinobi missions are given out, as well as where the Hokage lives." he explained.

"You're taking me to see the Hokage?" Liyenn asked.

"Mmmhmm. I told him yesterday when we got back that you were coming to stay in our village. He told me to bring you to him as soon as I found out you were here."

Kakashi led Liyenn up the stairs to the Hokage's office. Kakashi slid the door open and indicated for Liyenn to go in. Liyenn walked in and saw two groups of people; one sitting at a long table, another waiting for their next mission. Liyenn looked at the group waiting for their mission and realized that three of them were only about her age. They were with a female that wore what appeared to be white strips of cloth wrapped over her fishnet undershirt.

Liyenn turned her attention to the other three in the group. There was a girl and two boys. One boy was wearing shades and a overcoat that covered the lower half of his face. The second boy was wearing a hooded jacket with a fur trim. He had a small white dog with him, who bark when Kakashi and Liyenn walked in. The girl was wearing what looked like a winters coat. She gave them an incisive look before the older female spoke.

"Kakashi! What a surprise! Thought you'd be with your Genin?" the woman said to Kakashi.

"I would be Kurenai, if I didn't have something more important to do." Kakashi said, walking over to the woman and the other three. "So, these are the Genin you were paired with." Kakashi inspected the three Genin, who looked at him nervously.

"Yeah. These are my Genin. What's more important than looking out to your Genin?" Kurenai eyed him suspiciously.

"Who that with you, Kakashi?" Iruka piped up.

"Oh, this is - " Kakashi began.

"Ogokasi Liyenn, daughter of the late Ogokasi Kenshin and the late Ogokasi Yokomo." the Hokage said in a rough voice, cutting Kakashi off. Both Kakashi and Liyenn nodded. "Kakashi told me of your coming. Please, tell me your purpose for coming here." the Hokage ordered gently.

"Well, Momma died, so I had no reason to stay home." Liyenn began to explain.

"Is that the only reason?" Liyenn gazed at the Hokage. He seemed the be a fairly nice man, someone that had many friends and few enemies. She knew she could trust him.

"Well, Momma and I were going to come here anyway. I heard that the medic-nin were really good and that they'd be able to cure her illness." Liyenn looked down. "Besides, I met someone who really wanted me to move here." She heard the old man chuckled and she looked up. He was looking at her with a soft smile.

"It was Naruto, wasn't it?" Liyenn flushed slightly, which gave the Hokage his answer. He then gave her a more serious look. "It's time to discuss some more important matters." he stated, taking a puff from his pipe. "One of our ANBU has informed me that you worked for a certain man we were after for sometime now. You were the one involved in the Tsukiko massacre, weren't you?" Liyenn's eyes widened with shock. How did he know that? The Hokage answered her question by getting Iruka to show her some scrolls.

"These are scrolls from..." Liyenn stopped and looked up at the Hokage.

"The same ANBU member found a cottage a great distance from here that had burned down recently. Yesterday, in fact. He found these scrolls in a safe along with five, barely recognizable corpses." The Hokage saw Liyenn frown. "We studied these scrolls very carefully, especially the ones that was signed by someone named Yoshi."

"Yoshi?" Liyenn repeated quietly.

"Does that name mean anything to you?" the Hokage asked her.

"Well, he was my sensei." Liyenn looked down at the floor.

"We understand that you felt like you had to be working there. Why?"

"Master-sama... he promised to pay for Momma's treatments for as long as she lived or until she got better. We didn't have a lot of money, since Momma was too sick to work."

The Hokage nodded. "So, tell me this. Why did you kill your master? Your employer?" he asked her.

Liyenn was silent for a moment. Kakashi nudged her and she looked at him. "You should really answer Hokage-sama."

"I know." Liyenn said quietly. Her eyes were watering when she looked at Kakashi.

"Liyenn." Liyenn looked at the Hokage. "I know this is difficult for you, but I need to know your reasons before we make a record for you."

"He... he had my Momma murdered. He had Yoshi-tou-san killed for trying to set me free. Master-sama didn't deserve to live!" Liyenn stated. The anger rolled off her tongue like a foot would slip on butter.

The Hokage smirked and took another puff from his pipe. "I know how much you must've hated the man. I would actually have to thank you." Liyenn blinked in shock. "We've been after that man for some time now. A man from your village came and asked if we would try to get rid of him."

"A man from my village?" Liyenn asked, sounding confused. Who would come all the way from her village just for this?

"Yes. I believe you would know him. He came here requesting that someone get rid of that man so you and Yokomo-chan could live a more comfortable life. He never trusted him. He told us that he was a friend of the family."

Liyenn perked in realization. "Daiki-san!"

"So, you do know him?" Liyenn froze. Daiki had travelled the road to Konoha by himself just so he could help Liyenn get free. "Now that we've got that done, let's move on." The Hokage finally realized that Kurenai and her Genin were still in the room. "Shouldn't you be on your way?" he asked them.

"Oh, sorry Hokage-sama." Kurenai gave a nervous laugh.

The Hokage looked annoyed, but then looked thoughtful. "Maybe you should stay, just for a few more minutes." he said.

Kurenai looked surprised. "Um, okay." she said.

The Hokage turned his attention back to Liyenn. "Now, Liyenn. I'm going to need a demonstration of your abilities."

"Oh?"

"Yes, it'll also be in your records."

"Okay."

"Perform a _henge_." the Hokage ordered.

"Okay." Liyenn performed hand signs and yelled, "_Rinji Henge no Jutsu!_" She disappeared in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Liyenn stood there, completely transformed. She looked at her hands and noticed something wasn't right. Her skin was dark, her hair was a fiery orange and she was wearing a red, sparkling dress.

'_I'm sorry, Liyenn-chan. I couldn't let you do it. You'll hurt too much. Especially since you went through so much trouble with her.'_

_Phoenix..._

"Impressive." When Liyenn looked, Iruka was walking around her, scribbling on a clipboard.

"Very." Kurenai said, sounding amazed.

Liyenn looked at the Hokage with a panicked look. "I'm sorry, this wasn't suppose to happen. My technique was... interjected."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I was suppose to turn into a blonde... not this."

"Who are you then?"

"Well, I'm someone I've never seen before. I transformed into the Phoenix. She said she couldn't let me turn into what I wanted. She said she was afraid I would hurt too much."

The Hokage smiled, while everyone just looked at Liyenn like she was crazy. "Well, I guess we all know that you're telling the truth. At least we know what the Phoenix looks like now." The Hokage chuckled. "Tell me a little bit about your technique."

"Well, it takes a lot of chakra control. The reason for this is that you can keep it activated for however long you want to. You can even sleep with this technique on if you have enough control." Liyenn explained.

"Very interesting." the Hokage commented. Kurenai murmured in agreement and Iruka scribbled on his clipboard again. "Ok, now perform a clone jutsu." he told Liyenn, who was now back to normal.

"Does it matter what kind?"

"No, just perform one."

"Alright." Liyenn performed another lot of hand signs before yelling, "_Yougan Bunshin no Jutsu!_" After a few seconds, lava came up from between the floor boards and formed into a prefect copy of Liyenn.

"A lava clone?" Iruka's eyes glowed in amazement. He had never seen anything like this before. "When a normal clone or shadow clone is attacked, they pop into a cloud of smoke or simply disappeared. What will happen if I attacked your clone?"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Iruka. You'll end up in the hospital." Liyenn warned. "I'll show you." she offered. She walked over to her clone and gave in a powerful kick to the stomach. She had dented the clone's exterior and lava started to form around her leg. The clone melted away slowly before their eyes and disappeared from sight. "I have so that my clones will burn my opponents before disappearing."

The boy with the dog looked at Liyenn's leg. "Hey! She got out of it without a burn mark! How did she get around that? I didn't see her perform another jutsu!"

"Yes, how did you do that?" the Hokage asked her with interest.

"It's a natural trait I inherited from the Phoenix when she entered my body. I'm immune to fire damage."

The Hokage smiled at her. "I've seen enough. You are free to go. Kakashi, I would like to speak to you. You too, Kurenai."

Liyenn nodded and left the building. She walked out onto the street and felt lost. _Phoenix, help me. Where do I go?_

'_That's something you'll have to figure out on your own, Liyenn-chan. I can't help you with everything.'_

Thought Liyenn couldn't see it, she could tell that the Phoenix was smiling at her. _Some help you are..._

"Hey? Do you need some help?" a gentle voice called out to Liyenn.

"Huh?" Liyenn looked to see who it was. She saw a young man with navy hair coming towards her. He looked to be around Kakashi's age.

"You looked a bit lost." the man said, chuckling.

"Yeah. I'm suppose to meeting Kakashi at some bridge, but I can remember which way to go." Liyenn confessed. She frowned at the man. He looked familiar to her.

"The bridge where Kakashi tells his Genin to meet him, probably. I know where that is. I'll take you there."

"Thanks." Liyenn said with a smile.

They started walking and Liyenn searched and searched her memory to figure out where she seen him before. Even though she had a good memory, the Phoenix still found a way of keeping some things hidden from Liyenn. Like before her father died, before the Phoenix was sealed inside of her, and when the Phoenix fell from the heavens. Then it hit her.

"You're Kohaku, aren't you?"

"Huh?" The man looked at Liyenn. "How did you know my name?"

"I remember you. You and Kakashi babysat me for a week when I was five."

The man froze. "Liyenn?"

"Yup." Liyenn smiled. She liked Kohaku when he babysat her all those years ago.

"How old are you now?" Kohaku demanded.

"I'm thirteen." Liyenn looked at Kohaku and her smiled faded. "What's wrong?"

"Liyenn, we need to talk. There's something you need to know." Kohaku stated. "Follow me."

He led her away to a different area that Liyenn knew she never seen before. "What's going on, Kohaku?" Liyenn demanded. He was scaring her, but she didn't want it to show.

"Why are you here? In Konoha that is. Why aren't you in your village?"

Liyenn looked offended by this. "I had nowhere else to go. Momma died and Naruto offered for me to stay with him until I can find a place to stay."

"Yokomo's dead?" Kohaku asked quietly, taking a seat on a set of nearby steps.

"Yeah. She died yesterday." Liyenn answered quietly. She then gave him a hard stare. "What does it matter to you if she's gone or not? You never knew her."

Kohaku sighed. "Liyenn, I'm not who you think I am."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember when you told me that we had the same eyes?" Kohaku asked her. Liyenn thought about it for a moment and nodded her head slightly. "Well, there's a reason why we do have to same eyes."

"Huh?"

"Liyenn, my name isn't Kohaku. It just something I go by so I don't get hurt by the past, by what people had done to me." Liyenn was still giving him a confused look. He sighed. "Liyenn, my name is Ogokasi Habu."

Liyenn took a step back. Was this some sort of joke? "You can't be. Habu's-"

"Dead?" Kohaku finished her sentence for her. "That's what the villagers told Mother and Father." Kohaku sighed before continuing. Liyenn wasn't going to believe him, but he had to try. "The night that the thunder cat-demon attacked, I was the first one out to battle him. I wanted to keep him from you. We almost lost you, I couldn't bare the thought of you not having a life. The cat attacked me, and when he did, he transferred a piece of his soul into my body. Some of the villagers saw this and threw me out of the village without consulting the Elders first. They said that the demon was only going to use my body to attack the village again. They told me that from that day on, I was dead to them and everyone else in the village. I came to Konoha and spoke to the Hokage. I told him that my name was Kohaku, and requested that he give me a test to prove what rank I should be. He gave me test after test until I became a Jounin and finally, an ANBU member."

"Who else knows your secret?" Liyenn asked him quietly.

"Only my pet, Kailin."

"Kailin?"

"Yeah. She's my pet cat that I sometimes summon to help me in battle."

"You talk to a cat?" Liyenn was laughing at the idea.

"I wouldn't make fun of her if I were you. She a fair size black panther. Besides, she saved you once."

"Really?"

"I've been sending her to watch over you for sometime now. She reported to me once that a young boy had attacked you by the river outside your home. She told me that she jumped out and attacked the boy, scaring him off of you." He raised an eyebrow as Liyenn's eyes widened. She hadn't told anybody but Naruto and Sasuke about the attack, how else would he know unless what he said was true? "Do you believe me now?"

Liyenn nodded, unable to speak. She thought she was alone, and now she had found out that the people of her village had lied to her and her family, and that her brother was actually alive. Tears started to build up in her eyes. "All this time, and you haven't forgotten me?"

"How could I? I risked everything I had to make sure you were going to be ok. I was even the ANBU Hokage-sama sent after your master."

"Really?"

"Mmmhmm. He gathered the ANBU who were still in the village at the time and asked us which one of us wanted to case. When he explained it, I automatically volunteered. That obviously raised a few eyebrows, especially Kakashi's, but I didn't care."

Habu stood up and dusted himself off. "We've got a lot of catching up to do." he said, putting his ANBU mask on top of his head. "But, we can do that later. Kakashi's probably getting worried about you now. Probably wondering where the hell you went." He laughed. He stopped when he looked at Liyenn. He saw the tears streaming down her face. "What's wrong?" he asked her, sounding worried.

"All this time I thought that I was alone, that I had no family left." Liyenn's face was in shadows. Habu could hear a small whimpering from her. "Daddy left me went I was too young to understand, and now Momma's gone too. I never knew my uncle or cousin, and both of them are dead." She looked up at Habu and gave him a smile through her tears. "Now I have my big brother back. I have someone."

Habu smiled. Liyenn ran into him and gave him a hug. He returned the hug, and gave her a tight squeeze. "I've missed you, Liyenn."

"I'm just glad what the villagers said was just a lie. Not that I liked it, but I'm glad I finally met you."

Habu smiled. "C'mon, before Kakashi has the entire village out looking for ya."

Habu led Liyenn to the place he was suppose to take her. They talked and laughed at silly things. They saw Kakashi waiting impatiently. "I've gotta leave now, Liyenn. I promise, we'll talk more when I get back. I'll take you to the dumpling stand."

"Ok."

Kakashi saw Liyenn with his friend, Kohaku, and released a sigh of relief. He began to walk to meet them. Liyenn stopped and waved to Kohaku. "See ya later, Habu-onii-chan!" she called out to him. Kohaku glanced over his shoulder, smiled, positioned his mask, and left.

Kakashi gave a blank stare. "Well, what did I miss?" He looked at Liyenn and noticed that she was glowing. "Well, it seems like you just had a good day."

"How can I not will I realized that I'm not the last of my line." She beamed.

"Kohaku? No, that couldn't be."

"Yep." Liyenn couldn't stop smiling. "He's my brother. He's Ogokasi Habu."

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**People Introduced:**

**None**

**Jutsus Used:**

_Rinji__ Henge no Jutsu_(Special Transformation Tenchique) - This techinque is similiar to the _Henge no Jutsu_(Transformation Technique), as it allows the user to hide thier true identity. The only different between _Chouon_ and _Henge_ is that _Chouon_ allows the user to become a person they created in their mind, thus creating a new ID for themselves. This technique is difficult to master, considering the user needs to heva complete control over their chakra. It can be considered an A ranked technique.

_Yougan Bunshin no Jutsu_(Lava Cloning Technique) - This technique is know to the Phoenix and Liyenn alone. When this tecnhique is being used, molten lava flows from the ground and creates a copy of the user. Unlike other clones that simply disappear after being hit, these clones does the maximum amount of damage possible before melting away.

**A/N:** Aren't brothers awesome? Well, that was the end of chapter evelen. Hope you all liked it. And thanks for reading this far. Lemme know wha cha think please!


	12. Meeting Outsiders

**A/N:** Chapter 12! We're going to meet some well loved characters in this chapter! I hope you all like it. And thanks to slytherinXprincessX16 for reviewing. It really means a lot! Oh, and just a reminder, I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.

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**Chapter Twelve:**

**Meeting Outsiders**

"I'm happy for you, Liyenn." Kakashi smiled at the glowing Liyenn. He was just glad that his friend wasn't hitting on the new girl. "I was hoping I could make you happier." He received a confused look from the girl in front of him. "We just need to wait for Naruto and the others to get here. They need to report to me about the missions they've done today."

"Oh, ok."

Liyenn and Kakashi waited for a bit. Liyenn sat on the railing and Kakashi leaned against it. Out of boredom, Kakashi had pulled his book out from his pouch. Liyenn caught a glimpse of the cover, and she started to giggle. Kakashi blinked and looked at her. What was so funny?

"You're reading _Icha Icha Paradise_." she giggled. Kakashi frowned at her, not realizing that she knew about the book. "I use to tease Yoshi-tou-san about it all the time. Daddy use to read the early ones too. I found his stash one day."

Kakashi blushed from in under his face mask. He grumbled and put his book away. Liyenn just giggled and muttered, "You old perv." Kakashi flushed when she said this, and grumbled some more. Moments later, Naruto showed up, carried by an anger Sakura and the unbroken Sasuke. Liyenn waved her hand when she saw them. "Naruto! Sakura! Sasuke!" she called.

Naruto smiled at her. "How was your day, Liyenn?"

Liyenn beamed. "The best!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up into the air. She giggled and everyone else blinked. She was extremely gitty for someone who had just lost her family.

"What's with you?" Sakura asked grumpily.

Liyenn stopped giggling and looked at Sakura. "Wow, what happened, Sakura? You don't look so hot." Liyenn commented and Sakura fumed.

"Weed picking, replanting, garbage picking, and dog walking, that's what. And Kakashi was suppose to come help out, but he never showed up." Sakura complained. She glared at Kakashi.

"Sorry, I couldn't make it, but Hokage-sama wanted me the be around for more pressing matters." Sasuke glanced at Kakashi, Sakura fumed and Naruto just looked confused. "Well, I need your report. How did things go today?"

"Well, if it wasn't for Naruto pulling out all of our client's good plants, we wouldn't've had to do the replanting. Naruto almost fell over a waterfall and then he picked the biggest dog, which walked him into a mine field. Other than that, it was a good day." Sakura gave a sarcastic smile and Naruto gave a nervous laugh.

"Well, I guess I can't complain." Kakashi said. "Now, to what I need to do. Liyenn?"

"Yeah?"

"Hokage-sama wanted me to give you this." Kakashi said, handing her a hitai-ate with the Leaf insignia inscribed in it. "You're an official Genin of Konoha." Liyenn blinked and looked at Kakashi. "Hokage-sama was really impress with you today. He said that you have more knowledge than most Genin and that he could've easily made you a Chuunin or Jounin. But that wouldn't've been acceptable, considering you didn't even have a rank, you were just a shinobi. He said that you'll have to take the test like everyone else. This hitai-ate just means you can participate in the exams when you're ready for it."

Liyenn didn't speak. She didn't know what to say. She never had a hitai-ate before, and she never actually belonged anywhere. This hitai-ate meant that she belonged, that this place was now her home no matter where she went. And to know that the Hokage thought so highly of her was a nice confidence boost as well. She blinked and looked up at Kakashi. Her eyes sparkled with happiness. She jumped off the rail and glomped Kakashi. "Thanks Kakashi! You're the greatest!"

"Hey! Watch the vest!" Kakashi said, although his was smiling. He turned serious and looked at his team after Liyenn let go of him. "I've got to go and give your report to the Hokage. You've got the rest of the day off." Kakashi said.

Naruto groaned as he was being carried by Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura gave Naruto an 'all knowing' look. "This is what you what you get for being reckless." she stated as the group walked through the village.

Sasuke smirked. "You're a guy who needs help all the time, aren't ya?" he sneered.

Naruto straighten himself up and began to lunge at Sasuke. "Sasuke!" he cried.

Sakura raised her hand to stop him. "If you're going to go all crazy again, I'm just going to finish you off." she warned.

Kakashi groaned. "The teamwork's a little off these days."

"Yeah, well, Sasuke's the one who disrupts our teamwork!" Naruto exclaimed, shaking his fist at Sasuke. Liyenn sighed. She glad she wasn't in the middle of this. "He's always sticking his nose into everything!"

"No. I believe that's you, idiot." Sasuke replied, not looking at Naruto. "If you don't want to owe me anything for saving you all those times..." Sasuke turned and looked at Naruto. "... become stronger than me."

The two stared each other down, no one moved. Liyenn gave a weary look and Sakura became uncomfortable. _Things suddenly got even more unfriendly between those two..._ Sakura gulped. She thought that with someone new around, the two boys would start behaving better. But, was she ever wrong.

Naruto and Sasuke continued to stare at each other. Sasuke suddenly frowned and Liyenn wondered why.

Kakashi sighed and looked up into the sky. He saw a bird he realized he was being summoned. "I should really get going and do up those reports. You guys can just relax for the rest of the day if you want."

"Then I'm going home." Sasuke said. He obviously didn't want to be around these people anymore than he had to be. Liyenn looked around, wondering how to break the tension. Sasuke started to walk away when Sakura ran to catch up to him.

"Hey! Sasuke-kun! Wait up!" Sasuke turned to look at Sakura. "Maybe we should train a little bit right now. You know, to strengthen our and everything." She blushed slightly. Liyenn just giggled at Sakura's attempt.

"You're the same as Naruto." was all that Sasuke said. Sakura looked taken aback by that. She knew she wasn't as good as Sasuke, but to be like Naruto?! "If you have time to bother me, you have time to practice a technique or two." Sasuke started to turned but stop to add one last comment. "To be honest, your abilities are worse than Naruto's." Sasuke dropped bluntly. He then began to head home.

As Sasuke walked away, Liyenn noticed how hurt Sakura looked by what Sasuke had said. These Genin were still young and weren't put under the same training as Liyenn. Liyenn couldn't imagine how hard it must be to prove yourself here with people like Sasuke around. "Hey, Sakura!" she called.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Forget about Sasuke and come train with us!" Naruto called out. Liyenn gave a faint blush. She knew that Naruto like Sakura, but he was including her too. With that, Kakashi was gone. Naruto noticed and thought this would be great time to try to get with Sakura. He turned and saw Liyenn. The wind gently blew at the moment, making Liyenn's hair sway. He blushed as he realized that Liyenn was more of a friend to him than Sakura and that he couldn't leave her out.

Liyenn walked over to Sakura and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok, Sakura. At least you tried." she said gently as Sakura faced her. Liyenn smiled at Sakura. "I know it must be hard for you to be able to prove yourself, but you'll do it someday." Sakura blinked. Liyenn was so nice, so kind, Sakura couldn't help but smile. "There's an old saying that Momma told me once. She said that if you love someone, set them free. If they come back, then it was meant to be. If they don't, well, I guess you'll just have to move on." Liyenn stopped long enough look at the clouds. "But, always remember to never give in and always keep going. Don't let others stop you from becoming the person you want to be." Sakura gave a small blush when she realized how right Liyenn was.

Sakura beamed at Liyenn. "Thanks, Liyenn. You're a really good person." Liyenn smiled, she liked it when people said those kind of things to her.

Meanwhile, Naruto was being chased by a square rock. Naruto ran in circles, trying to lose the rock. He ran and he ran, and then he brought up solid. "A square rock with holes! That doesn't exist! It's _so_ obvious!" Naruto exclaimed, yelling at the box. Liyenn gave a questioning but interested look, and began to walk closer so she could investigate.

"I should've excepted that from the man who I have high hopes for and is my rival!" said a voice from the box. With a bright light, the box exploded, revealing three young children. They coughed and the browned hair boy stated, "I think we used too much gunpowder." They looked up at Naruto, and jumped up to introduce themselves.

"The one who possesses the sex appeal of an adult, and the female shinobi from the senior group, Moegi!" announced the girl with pigtails.

"The one who loves dividing numbers, Udon!" the boy with the runny nose stated.

"This village's number one genius shinobi, Konohamaru!" cried the browned hair boy.

And together they finished their speech. "The three of us make the Konohamaru Corps!"

Naruto sighed. "I thought it was you." he said in a very bored matter. He looked at Liyenn and saw her staring at him. He noticed that all three of them were wearing goggles like the ones he use to wear. "Why are you wearing goggles?" he pondered out loud.

"We're copying the old you." the one called Konohamaru grinned.

"Oh?" Naruto didn't seem too interested.

"'Oh?' Why have you been so cold lately?" Konohamaru asked him. Naruto looked at Liyenn and remembered how she reacted to the children in her village.

Naruto sighed. He should try to be nicer. "And? What do you want?" he asked, but he realized it still came out cold. He mumbled inside of his. _Liyenn's gonna think I don't like little kids or something after this..._

Konohamaru turned to Udon. "See? He's being really cold." Udon nodded.

Moegi decided to try to pass it off. "Well, Nii-chan, do you had time right now?" she asked.

"No, sorry. I'm going to go train!" Naruto stated.

"What?" Konohamaru cried. "You said you would play Ninja with us today." Naruto looked up, and he saw Liyenn frown at him. She was going to hate him now for sure.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Really?" He gave a nervous laugh because he knew what Liyenn was thinking about him right now.

"What's the point of a shinobi playing Ninja?" Sakura sulked. She was obviously still hurt by Sasuke's comment. She looked at Naruto.

"What is it?" He nervously smiled at her. Sakura couldn't stop think about what Sasuke said, even with Liyenn's kind words of encouragement.

Naruto was looking more nervous by the minute as Sakura stared at him. He turned red and started laughing nervously.

"Hey? Nii-chan? Who's the big girl?" Konohamaru asked. Konohamaru noticed that the pink haired kunoichi was staring at Naruto pretty hard. He noticed that there was also a navy haired kunoichi who was frowning at Naruto for some reason. Konohamaru then got an idea. "Nii-chan!" Konohamaru started, rubbing Naruto on the back. "You're better than I thought!"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked and looked at Konohamaru.

"One of them girls, or maybe both of them, are your... right?" Konohamaru smiled as he raised his pinky finger. Sakura frowned at the thought, while it made Liyenn blush and laugh.

Naruto laughed. "Wow, you kids are sharp!" he commented.

"NO!" Sakura screamed. She hit Naruto, sending him flying into a nearby fence.

"Nii-chan!" Konohamaru cried as Liyenn gasped. Liyenn ran over to Naruto's aid, while Konohamaru yelled at Sakura. "What did you do?!"

Moegi and Udon ran over to Naruto with Liyenn. "Oh no! Nii-chan!" Moegi cried.

"His pulse... his pulse is ...!" Udon cried.

"Naruto? Are you ok?" Liyenn asked. She frowned at Sakura, but her attention was on Naruto, who twitched a little bit.

"You ugly girl! Ugly!" Konohamaru cried. He was actually crying. Sakura cracked her knuckles and her hair flared out. As Konohamaru stopped and looked at the fuming kunoichi, his expression quickly changed from anger to fear. He screamed as Sakura came closer and punched him in the head.

Sakura walked away, leaving Liyenn with two badly beaten boys to tend to. Liyenn frowned. "How could she?! Hitting a little child like that!" Liyenn grumbled as she helped Naruto up. Naruto opened his eyes and saw that Liyenn was tending to him. A blush spread across his face but it disappeared when Konohamaru spoke.

"That ugly, wide-forehead girl... is she even a girl?" Konohamaru whined.

Sakura heard this, and stopped in her tracks. She turned to look at them. The look she gave them could've killed them on the spot. Sakura started running towards them, and everyone left Liyenn behind. Liyenn blinked and then frowned. She was going to have to treat Naruto's wounds after this, along with Konohamaru's. She sighed and started after them.

Sakura started to catch up to the group that was fleeing from her. Konohamaru, out of fear, picked up his own pace and surpassed Naruto and the others. Konohamaru only stopped because he ran into an older boy that was wearing a black body suit and carrying what looked like a mummy on his back. Everyone stopped to look at the strange boy. They then realized that he was with a blonde hair girl. She had her hair pulled back into four ponytails and she too carried a fairly large object on her back.

"That hurt." the boy said.

Liyenn approached them as the older boy picked Konohamaru up by the collar of his shirt. "Konohamaru!" Naruto cried.

"That hurt, brat." the boy repeated. Liyenn noticed the hitai-ate that both the boy and the girl were wearing. They were from outside; from Suna.

"Stop it." The girl beside him sighed. "We're going to get scolded later." she said, though she didn't seem too worried.

"I'm sorry!" Sakura said. "I was only joking around, so..."

"Hey! Let go of Konohamaru!" Naruto yelled. He looked like he was going to charge.

"Becareful, Naruto." Liyenn warned. She was now standing beside him and the new blonde haired girl looked at Liyenn with interest. _She's not even wearing a hitai-ate. She can't be very strong at all_ the blonde thought to herself.

The boy smiled at Naruto when he noticed the Leaf hitai-ate. "But, I want to play around before some noisy people come around." He gave a sarcastic whine.

"Let go." Konohamaru struggled. Liyenn frowned and positioned herself in case they attacked.

"You're very energetic, kid." the boy commented.

Naruto grew anger and began to charge. "Why you...!"

Liyenn looked at Naruto with a worried look. "Naruto!"

The strange new boy moved his fingers around. Liyenn recognized the movement. It was the same as a puppeteer's. Without explanation, Naruto tripped and fell backwards.

"What was that?!" Naruto asked all panicky.

"Konoha's Genin are weak." the boy commented.

Sakura was starting to get worried and realized now that these people were from outside the village.

"Konohamaru..." Naruto cried. He felt useless.

"Konohamaru-chan!" Moegi cried. The tears had built up in her eyes.

"Konohamaru-kun!" Udon cried.

"How sickening." Liyenn stated. "You come all this way just to pick on a bunch of kids."

"Who asked you?" the girl asked.

"Nobody. But I'm allowed to speak without your permission." Liyenn said calmly. The blonde girl glared at Liyenn. _This girl has an attitude _the blonde thought.

"Hey! If you don't let go of him, you're gonna get it from me, you idiot!" Naruto said after he finally stood up.

Sakura moved to shut Naruto up. "You're the idiot!" she hissed. "Don't provoke him!"

"You've pissed me off." the boy stated with a smirk. "I hate short people, anyway. And you're so impertinent for someone younger than me." The boy looked at everyone before saying, "It makes me want to break you."

Everyone gasped except for Liyenn. She smirked. "You're one to talk about manners." she taunted coolly. Everyone looked worried, and the two younger children were crying. The boy growled as the girl sighed.

"I'm not going to be responsible for what you do." the girl stated. Sakura wondered who these people were. This boy was also extremely dangerous, but Liyenn was still taunting him. Sakura envied Liyenn's courage, but she couldn't help but think that Liyenn was being stupid at the same time.

"After this short kid, the short kid over there is next." the boy said, raising his arm to punch poor little Konohamaru.

Naruto ran in to try to stop the strange boy. "Stop!" he yelled. Before anything else happened, a rock flew out of nowhere and hit the boy in the hand, forcing him to drop Konohamaru, who ran to his friends, Sakura and Liyenn for cover.

The boy gasped at the rock and looked to see where it came from. He saw a black haired boy, sitting in a tree, repeatedly tossing and catching another rock. Everyone else looked and saw it was Sasuke. "What are you doing in a another village?" Sasuke asked him.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried in glee.

"Another kid who pissed me off..." the boy hissed.

Sasuke caught the rock he was tossing and crushed it. "Get lost."

Sakura, Moegi, and Udon were amazed. "He's so cool!" they all cried.

Naruto gave a nervous look and Konohamaru turned to him. "Naruto-nii-chan, you're not cool at all."

Trying to convince Konohamaru that he was still cool, Naruto bent down and smiled nervously. "I would've beaten that guy..." Naruto sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that too.

"Lair!" Konohamaru cried. Naruto gave an angry look. He was fid up with Sasuke taking all the glory. Sasuke always stuck his nose in places where it doesn't belong.

"Hey! Come down here!" the boy called out to Sasuke. Sasuke didn't move, which made the older boy even angrier. "I hate kids like you, who think that they're so clever." The boy grabbed the strap that held what he was carrying on his back in place.

The blonde girl looked surprised when the boy with her took his object off of his back. "Hey. You're not going to use Karasu, are you?" she asked.

The boy slammed 'Karasu' down on the ground. He stared at Sasuke hard.

Liyenn smirked. "I thought so. You use puppets, don't you?"

The strange boy turned his attention to Liyenn. "How did you guess?"

"I've seen puppeteers before. They're fun to fight with, but they're also a pain." Liyenn gave a cool smirk. "I just that's what happens when the puppeteers can't fight for themselves."

"I'll show you who can't fight!" the boy snarled at Liyenn.

"Kankurou, stop." ordered a voice from somewhere in Sasuke's direction. Everyone looked and saw a young boy with crimson hair and pale green eyes standing upside down on a branch across from Sasuke. "You're a disgrace to our village." the new boy commented.

"G-Gaara.." the boy, now known as Kankurou, studdered.

* * *

**A/N:** Nobody new today. Well, nobody that you don't already know. Also no jutsu used. Lemme know what you think, please! Thanks for reading this far. 


	13. The Assaults

**A/N:** Chapter 13's up. Thanks to slytherinXprincessX16 and Sparkles of Youthfulness for your reviews and opinions. Hope you like this chapter.

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**Chapter Thirteen:**

**The Assaults**

Kakashi, Kurenai, and a large amount of the village Chuunins and Jounins had gathered in front of the Hokage. "I've called you all here for a reason." the Hokage stated, looking over the group in front of him. "You should already know why from all the new people that are here though." He took a puff from his pipe.

"So, it's that time of year already?" Kakashi asked. He didn't sound too concerned.

"You've already reported this to the other countries?" asked a man with a cigarette. "I've already seen a few in this village."

"So? When is it then?" Kurenai asked.

"One week from now." the Hokage answered.

"That sudden?" Kakashi asked. He looked a little surprised.

The Hokage blew out a small cloud of smoke. "I'll make an official announcement. Seven days from now, the first of July, we will begin the Chuunin Selection Exam."

* * *

"You're a disgrace to our village." Gaara said. "What do you think we came to Konoha to do?" he asked coldly. 

"L-listen, G-Gaara..." Kankurou started. "Th these guys started it, and..."

"Shut up." Gaara said, cutting Kankurou off. Gaara's eye twitched a little bit. "Or I'll kill you."

"I got it. My mistake." Kankurou apologized. Liyenn watched these people. The boy called Kankurou and the girl seemed to be afraid of the one called Gaara, even if they were older than he was. Liyenn never seen that kind of fear before, only from her senseis when they spoke about her master. "I'm really, really sorry."

Gaara turned his gaze to Sasuke. "Apologies to you guys." he said, though he didn't seem to mean it. Gaara and Sasuke looked at each other for a moment, before Sasuke stood up. Gaara disappeared in a swirl of sand and reappeared beside his teammates. "Let's go. We didn't come here to play around." Gaara ordered the other two.

"I know that..." Kankurou said quietly. Liyenn couldn't believe it. He was just about to beat up a little kid, but now he was completely intimidated by some younger kid. She couldn't help but smirk.

The three of them began to walk away, and Sakura thought of something. "Hey! Wait!" she called out to them.

"What?" one of them replied, neither of them turning around to face them.

"Judging from your hitai-ate, you guys are shinobi from Suna, right?" Sakura asked. Liyenn rolled her eyes. _What a genius... The Konoha Genin really need to get out more..._

"The Fire Country and the Wind Country may be allies, but it is forbidden for shinobi to enter each other's without permission. State your purpose. Depending on..."

Sakura was interrupted by the blonde girl. "Talk about living under a rock." she commented. Liyenn eyed her. "Don't you know anything?" she asked, holding up a piece of paper with her picture on it. "Here's my passport." She smiled. "You're right. We are Genin from Suna of the Wind Country. We've come to your village to take the Chuunin Selection Exam." she explained.

"Chuunin Selection Exam?" Naruto asked. "What's the Chuunin Selection Exam?"

"You really don't know?" the girl didn't seemed to surprised by this.

"It's a series of tests." The blonde girl look at the navy haired girl. "Each test is done for different purposes, to test one's abilities as a shinobi." By now, everyone was looking at Liyenn. Liyenn smiled. "My sensei told me that he would try to enter me one year." She looked away as she continued. "But, that never got to happen." Naruto looked at Liyenn and knew she must've been talking about Yoshi.

"Naruto-nii-chan, if you pass the exam, you'll go from Genin to Chuunin." Konohamaru said.

"Really?! Well, maybe I should take this test too!" Liyenn smiled. She could hear the excitement in Naruto's voice.

The trio from Suna began to walk away again when Sasuke jumped down from his branch and called out to them. "Hey, you! What's your name?" he asked.

The girl turned around and was slightly blushing. "You mean me?" she asked.

"No, the one next to you. The one with the gourd." Sasuke answered.

Gaara turned to look at Sasuke while the girl liked a little disappointed. "Gaara." he answered. "Sabaku no Gaara. I'm also interested in you. Your name?"

"It's Uchiha Sasuke."

The two gazed at each other for a moment, when the blonde took notice of Liyenn. Liyenn was wearing a smug expression on her face. She didn't like Liyenn, thought she had an attitude. "You!" the blonde said. "The one with the attitude." She pointed at Liyenn.

Liyenn blinked and pointed at herself. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. You gotta name?"

"Yeah, I do. But what's it to you?" Liyenn asked.

"I just want to know. You seem pretty cocky... for a point size kid."

"Hn." Liyenn smirked. "It's Liyenn. Ogokasi Liyenn. And you?" Liyenn folded her arms, honestly not excepting an answer.

"Temari." she answered.

"Hey! What about me?!" Naruto asked.

Gaara looked at Naruto before turning away. "Not interested." The trio of Suna left.

Liyenn looked and saw Naruto talking to Konohamaru. "Konohamaru, do I look weak?"

"Next to Sasuke, you do." Konohamaru answered honestly.

Naruto got mad at this. "Sasuke, I won't lose to you!"

"What's your problem?"

* * *

"Now, to begin the Chuunin Selection Exam." the Hokage began. "First, those watching over the new Genin step forward." he ordered. Kakashi, Kurenai, and the man with the cigarette stepped forward. "Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma." The Hokage took a draw from his pipe. "Well? Are there any Genin you would like to nominate for the exam? I don't have to tell you, but after a Genin has properly completed at least eight missions, they are eligible to take the exam if nominated by you. Of course, completing more than eight missions is the norm. Now starting with Kakashi." 

"The Kakashi-led Team Seven: Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura. Under the name of Hatake Kakashi, I nominate these three to take the Chuunin Selection Exam. I would also like to nominate Ogokasi Liyenn to take the Chuunin Selection Exam, as I am her guardian until further notice."

"The Kurenai-led Team Eight: Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino; these three under the name of Yuuhi Kurenai, the same as to my left."

"The Asuma-led Team Ten: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji; these three under the name of Sarutobi Asuma, the same as to my left."

Throughout the crowd behind, murmurs began to arise. "Hold on a second!" Iruka blurted out.

"What is it, Iruka?"

"Hokage-sama, please! Let me had a word! I may be speaking out of place, but nine of the nominated were students of mine at the academy. And Liyenn only became a Genin! Of course they are all talented, but it's too early for them to take the exam! They should be more experienced before being nominated."

"I became a Chuunin when I was six years younger than Naruto." Kakashi stated, trying to make a point.

"Naruto's different from you!" Iruka exclaimed. "Are you trying to crush these kids?"

"Well, they're always complaining about their missions. Experiencing some pain might be good for them. Crushing them could be fun, too. As for Liyenn, she has taken on and completed more missions than most Chuunin for her age. She's even been on and been successful at assassinations. She deserves a chance at this."

"What?!"

"The part about crushing them was just a joke, Iruka-sensei. I understand what you're trying to say. It must upset you, but..."

"Kakashi, stop it already. You've said enough." Kurenai said wearily. She knew this was going to happen.

"Stay out of this." Kakashi told Kurenai. He turned his attention back to Iruka. "They are no longer your students. Right now, they are my soldiers!"

"But, the Chuunin exam is..."

"Iruka." Iruka looked at the man who said his name. "I understand your feelings."

"Hokage-sama."

"We will conduct a special preliminary exam for the new Genin. All of them." the Hokage said, trying to make Iruka more comfortable.

"Priliminary exam?"

* * *

Sakura, Liyenn, Naruto, and Sasuke all waited for Kakashi at the same place they always did. They waited for what seemed like forever. Sakura started to fume. "Hey, hey, hey! Why does he call us out and then make us wait?!" 

"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto agreed.

"What about the feelings of a young woman who over slept and couldn't blow dry her hair!"

"I over slept too, so I didn't wash my face or brush my teeth." Naruto said in agreement.

"That's...um, really nasty."

Sasuke was just as sulky as ever.

Liyenn laughed at Sakura and Naruto, and then stared into the river below. Liyenn was wondering why she was even there. She didn't belong to this team. Right now, she was move of a tag along than anything else. Kakashi was probably going to tell her who she was assigned under and where she had to meet them to. She sighed at the thought.

Kakashi finally showed up, crouching on the acrhway. "Morning everyone!" he said smiling. "Today I got lost on the road of life."

Together, Naruto and Sakura yelled at him. "Yeah right! Lair!"

Kakashi jumped down to face them. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura gathered around their sensei while remained where she was, gazing into th river. If he wanted to talk to her, he would address her. "Well, anyway." Kakashi began. "This is sudden, but I've nominated you guys for the Chuunin Selection Exam. Here are your applications." he finished, showing them their applications.

Liyenn looked up, but looked a little sad. She wasn't nominated. She couldn't've been. She had just became a Genin. There was no way they were going to put a brand new Genin through the Chuunin Selection Exam. She sighed as she pulled out her hitai-ate from her back pouch and stared at her reflection in it. She was going to be put back, while Naruto and the others excelled.

She heard Naruto cry something like 'Kakashi-sensei, I love you!'. Who was she kidding? Nobody even knew her name, let alone her abilities. She felt a tip on the shoulder and looked up to see Kakashi standing behind her. She sighed, and got prepared for the worse. "Here." he said to her. He was handing her a piece of paper. She looked and saw that it was an application for the Chuunin Selection Exam. She blinked and looked up at him, confused. "You don't really have a team, nor did you have a sensei. I know you're quite capable of becoming a Chuunin so I nominated you too. This is your application." Kakashi pushed the application towards her. Liyenn took it with watery eyes. He hadn't forgotten about her.

Liyenn looked up at Kakashi and gave him a big smile. "I would let you down, Kakashi! You're the greatest!" she said, glomping Kakashi. She ended up spinning him around. Kakashi sighed and accepted it, though this was the second time he got glomped in the pass five minutes. At least Liyenn didn't tell Kakashi that she loved him, that would've been awkward.

Kakashi looked at his students before explaining anymore. "Those who wish to take the exam should sign those applications and take them to room 301 of the academy by 3pm, six days from now. That's all."

"Chuunin Exam! Chuunin Exam!" Naruto cried happily.

The group of four walked away from the meeting area, Naruto holding up his application for the world to see. He started imagining things that could happen during the exam, things that were good for him of course.

"I hope you do your best, Naruto." Liyenn said, interrupting his daydream. "If you pass the test, you'll be closer to your dream. Even if you don't pass, I would still except you to give it your all."

Naruto looked at Liyenn and smiled. She had faith in his dream. He knew that with Liyenn rooting for him, he'll get his dream in no time. "You better do your best, too, you know." Naruto said.

"I will, Naruto. I promise."

* * *

The days went by and village began to get swamped with stranger and freakier looking Genin and their senseis. 

Liyenn decided to take a early morning hike, three days before she was excepted to turn in her application for the Chuunin Selection Exam. It was sunrise, and Naruto was still sleeping. What would it matter if she decided not to show up at Kakashi's meeting place? She got up and dress. Feeling that it would be rude to leave without letting Naruto know, Liyenn wrote a note and left it on his table for him to read.

She left Naruto's apartment and walked out of the village. She decided she wanted to take a look at the village's nearby vegetation. She lived in a forest for most of her life, and wanted to see what differences the forest here had. Liyenn walked around and realized that the trees here were newer than the ones that surrounded her old village, and they were of a different breed of tree, as well.

Liyenn had been walking until about noon. She wasn't really tired, but decided to take a break next to a river. Liyenn took off her boots and let her feet dangle in the water. The coldness of the river's water felt nice up against Liyenn's usual warm flesh. She sat there for a moment or two before she got the feeling that she was being watched. Liyenn got up and retrieved her kunai.

Suddenly a man, dressed in a weird black cloak and wearing a hat with the Rice Country insignia engraved on a metal plate, appeared from nowhere. "You should really reconsider entering th Chuunin exam." he said to her.

"Why? So freaks like you could take control?" Liyenn smirked. "I don't think so." She threw her kunai at the strange man, who dodged it easily. But the kunai was a distraction, as Liyenn appeared behind the man and aimed a kick to his side. The man tried to block it, but Liyenn was too quick. She gave him a hard smack to the side before sending him a few feet away.

The man got up and chuckled. "You're a lot stronger than you appear to be. Which is probably why both Kakashi and Hokage-sama think highly of your abilities. But the exams will be harder." the man warned. With that he was gone.

Liyenn sighed in relief. "It wasn't a real assault." she said to herself. "I should be heading back though." She pulled on her boots and started back towards Konoha. She was almost at the gate when she got the feeling again. The feeling of being watched. Liyenn, thinking it was only that man she fought earlier, passed it off and continued to walk. She frowned when the feeling wouldn't leave and decided to take a look. She glanced into the trees and saw him. Liyenn's eyes widened. _What is he doing here?! How did he find me?!_ Liyenn started to run through the forest, closer to the village. This way, if anyone comes looking for her, they wouldn't have far to go. She prayed that Kakashi would get worried and come find her before it was too late.

"I finally found you..." a man said, jumping down in front of her.

Liyenn growled. "Osamu-sensei."

"What did you do to Master-sama?" the man barked angrily.

"I got rid of him." Liyenn answered coldly.

"Yeah, well now I'm going to get rid of you." Osamu stated with a growl.

He charged at Liyenn and managed to hit her in the stomach, sending her a few feet away. Liyenn coughed, and some blood came up. She wiped the bit of blood off of her lips and looked up at her old sensei. Osamu charged after Liyenn again, but this time, Liyenn prepared a block. Osamu pushed Liyenn back, dust flying everywhere. He pushed her up against a tree, hurting Liyenn's back. Luckily for her, they were now right in front of the gate. The gate watchers would see even just a little bit and would get somebody to investigate.

"You were a bitch to find, you know that Liyenn?" Osamu said to her, pinning her to the tree. "And now, I'm gonna do to you what I've should done a long time ago."

"Drop dead." Liyenn cried. She lifted he leg up and delivered a powerful kick to Osamu's side. He dropped her, which gave Liyenn the opportunity to get a little ways away from him. She knew she couldn't beat him, and she would most likely end up dead if she fought him alone. She knew she needed help, but she couldn't risk bringing him into the village. Liyenn jumped through the trees, trying to work out a plan.

Liyenn landed for a moment, thinking she had lost Osamu for a little bit. When she landed, Osamu was waiting for her. He jumped out of the ground and sliced Liyenn's leg open. Liyenn let out a scream of pain and toppled over. "Hn. Fighting you is more fun than when I poisoned your mother." Osamu snickered.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Liyenn asked.

"With the help of Saburo, I came up with a virus that was suppose to kill your mother under the order of Master-sama. It was part of his plan, so he could gain control of the Phoenix. But, alas, you had to go and spoil everything. We could've rule the entire country! Been on top in battles! But, you wanted to be free." Osamu came closer. Liyenn looked at her leg and saw that the muscle and flesh was coming off of it. Her eyes widened when she saw the bone in her leg. Despite the pain and the possible factor of losing her leg, Liyenn tried to stand. She had to keep Osamu busy long enough for her to come up with a way to get rid of him.

Liyenn looked up long enough to see Osamu kick her in the stomach. Liyenn flew through the air. She broke one tree and then land up against another one. She moaned in pain as she tried to get up. As she tried, Osamu kicked her repeatedly in the ribs and stomach. Liyenn yelped in pain ever time she got kicked. Tears formed in her eyes. She could feel her vision fading. Osamu crouched down, and gave an evil laugh. "It wouldn't matter if I killed you now. You'll only end up dying later anyway." Osamu sneered. Liyenn coughed and a massive amount of blood came up. Osamu laughed, and started to come down on Liyenn with a kunai, which would've punctured the back of her skull.

Liyenn readied herself for her fate. If he didn't kill her now, she would've died of blood lost by the time someone finally came to find her. She waited for the feeling of the kunai point driving into her skull but found it never came. She looked up and saw the faint outline of someone with a kunai going through Osamu's back. She heard a faint murmur and saw Osamu fall to the ground. The figure bent down to pick her up. She felt herself being carried through the air, and that was the last she remembered.

* * *

"Hokage-sama!" a Chuunin came calling. 

"Yes? What is it?"

"Quickly! Someone has attacked the new Genin!"

"What?!" The Hokage turned to the Chuunin next to him. "Summon Kakashi and lead him to the site! Make it quick!" the Hokage demanded.

Kakashi was at home, reading _Icha Icha Paradise_. He had called it a quits early today, and decided to take a little 'me' time. He placed his book down though, and started to think. For some reason, he started thinking about Liyenn. Liyenn was really something. She had just waltzed into his life, and he could tell that he was already becoming attached. He knew he would miss having her around when she got assigned to her own team after the Chuunin Selection Exam. Kakashi started to pick up his book again, to start reading in again, when his window came open. He looked up and saw it was a Chuunin. "Is there anything I can do for you?" Kakashi asked, putting his book to one side.

"Kakashi, quick! We think that the new Genin may be in danger. Hokage-sama ordered you to take a look at it." the Chuunin reported.

"What?!"

In an instant, Kakashi was out the window. He didn't have time to put on his vest or hitai-ate; someone was in danger, someone he promised to protect. The Chuunin led Kakashi to the gate and pointed in a direction. "They went in that direction. He sounded really powerful." the Chuunin said, turning to Kakashi. But Kakashi was already gone.

Kakashi growled to himself. Someone would actually come all this way just to attack her? He picked up the pace, feeling he was being too slow, though he was already moving at a break neck speed.

"It wouldn't matter if I killed you now. You'll only end up dying later." a man said to a heavily bleeding Liyenn. Kakashi saw the man starting to move down upon Liyenn with a kunai aimed at the back of her skull.

Kakashi had to move fast, or else Liyenn would die. Kakashi moved quickly up behind the man and drove a kunai into his back. The man turned and faced Kakashi. Kakashi gave him an evil look. "That's what you get for trying to kill someone I'm suppose to protect." Kakashi stated coldly. The man fell to the ground and Kakashi turned to Liyenn. He saw her looking at him, but he didn't except her to know who he was. Kakashi scooped Liyenn up into his arms and carried her to the hospital.

When they got to the hospital, Liyenn had already fallen unconscious. The nurses and doctor rushed Liyenn into surgery. Kakashi waited there until he knew she was going to be all right.

Kakashi waited impatiently in the waiting room. He felt bad for not looking for her earlier. But she had left a note for Naruto, and he didn't want to bother her if she wanted to be alone. After a few hours, a nurse came out to speak with Kakashi. "Kakashi?" the nusre asked.

"Yes?" Kakashi looked up.

"The girl you brought in is out of surgery now. If you like, I can take you in to see her."

Kakashi only nodded. The nurse led Kakashi to the traditional hospital room. The walls were a pale yellow, the floor and ceiling both white. He looked at Liyenn. She was still unconscious. There was also a tube connecting Liyenn to a bag full of blood. "She can keep her leg." the nurse said. "She's actually healing pretty well. When you first brought her in, she had a few cracked ribs. They were already mended when we went to work on them. If the healing process keeps going the way it is, she should be able to walk by tomorrow at noon. We did need to give her blood, though. She had lost too much and was close to death as it was. She's very lucky you came to her rescue when you did." the nurse said, filling Kakashi in on all the details.

"Can I take a look at her wounds." Kakashi asked. The nurse nodded a 'Of course' and uncovered Liyenn's almost naked body. Kakashi saw that Liyenn's ribs were heavily bruised. His eye travelled down Liyenn's body and landed on her leg. It was in a thick bandage, but the blood had still stained through it.

"Um, we noticed something too. We didn't know what to make of it. Maybe you could tell us." the nurse said, catching Kakashi's attention. The nurse began to lift Liyenn up so Kakashi could get a look at Liyenn's back. Kakashi's eye widened at what he saw. Both of Liyenn's shoulders contained black seals. In the centre of her back, was a burn mark in the shape of a bird. Below the burn mark, Kakashi saw another burn mark. This one looked similar to the Leaf insignia, but without curves. It had points instead. Kakashi made a mental note to ask Liyenn about it later, when she was better.

"You see what I mean?" the nurse asked.

"Yes, I do. I'll asked Liyenn about it when she gets better." Kakashi said. The nurse moved to lay Liyenn back down, but required help from Kakashi. The nurse covered Liyenn back up and looked at her.

"She's pretty." the nurse commented, smiling sadly. She turned to Kakashi. "Visiting hours were over a long time ago. We only let you stay so we could let you know how the surgery went. I'm afraid you'll have to leave now."

Kakashi nodded and turned to Liyenn. "I'll be back in the morning to check on her." Kakashi said, and the nurse nodded.

Kakashi left the hospital and made his report to the Hokage. The man's body was brought in to study. Kakashi left the Hokage's office. Instead of heading home, Kakashi headed towards the bridge where he had his Genin meet him. When he got there, he leaned against the rail and began to think deeply.

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**A/N:** End of chapter thirteen. As case you couldn't tell, Osamu was Liyenn's evil sensei. Anywho, thanks for reading this far! Lemme know wha cha think, please! 


	14. A Reason Why

**A/N:** Chapter 14. It's kind of short, but this chapter gives a little more insight of why Kakashi acted out of character in the first few chapters, and why Liyenn suddenly changed. Hope you like it!

_'hello'_ - the Phoenix talking

_hello_ - Liyenn thinking to herself or talking to the Phoenix

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**Chapter Fourteen:**

**A Reason Why**

Kakashi stopped by the bridge after he took Liyenn to the hospital. Liyenn had changed a bit since she came to the village. And, he noticed that he had taken to her a nice bit. Kakashi sighed as he stared into the water below him. "Kakashi?" said a voice from behind him. Kakashi turned and saw it was Iruka.

"Oh, Iruka. It's only you." Kakashi said, turning back to face the water.

"Liyenn's quite a powerful young girl. I can see why you've taken to her. It's a shame she got injured before the Chuunin Selection Exam." Iruka leaned on the rail with Kakashi. "I do have one question though. How did you meet her?"

Kakashi sighed. How he managed to get to know Liyenn was completely out of character for him, but alas, Iruka had asked. "She offered to help Naruto and Sasuke with their teamwork problem on the way home from the Wave Country."

"On the road? Just like that?" Iruka seemed a little doubtful.

"Actually, yes. The girl seemed harmless enough, so I agreed." Kakashi turned to look at the blackened sky. "Naruto and Sasuke was going to beat her, their teamwork had indeed improved for when they want it to work. A strange man came and provoked Liyenn, taunting her about her mother and that she wasn't good enough to get the extra money for her mother's treatments." Kakashi sided glanced to Iruka. "Naruto forfeited when he figured out what the fight was about, allowing Liyenn to earn her extra pay, only after he had stopped Sasuke from attacking her."

"I see. But I still don't understand how you managed to bring her here."

"Do you remember the stories that Kenshin-sensei use to tell our rookie class about Morigakure no sato?"

"You mean that time when you and your team took a group of students from the academy?"

"Yeah."

"Of course I remember those stories. They were always so... mysterious." Iruka commented.

"Well, Liyenn told us that she was from that village when I asked her."

"No way!" Iruka exclaimed.

"Yes way. I don't know why, but I followed her to the village after she told us about it. Not only that, but Naruto being the way he was, was so interested in the girl and her strange new village. I couldn't very well leave Naruto, especially since we didn't know this girl yet. Then she explained to us that she was Kenshin-sensei's daughter. I knew then that we could trust her, Kenshin being the good man he was. I don't know why, but Liyenn seemed to trust us too. I learned from Yokomo-san that Liyenn had good senses about that kind of thing."

Iruka gazed into the water. It must've shocked Kakashi to be somewhere he heard of in the past. Kakashi continued. "The thought of seeing Mori intrigued me. Seeing how Kenshin-sensei use to tell us about it when he was around."

"First time I've ever known Hatake Kakashi to be so curious about something." Iruka commented with a smile. "What made you believe she wasn't an enemy?"

"I really don't know. I guess it's one of those 'Curiosity killed the cat' situations. Me being the cat." Kakashi stared off into the distance. He was wondering what had possessed him to trust that young girl as well. Was it the sorrow in her eyes? Or where she said she was from? Was there another force behind it? The thought made Kakashi's head spin. He sighed. "Well, I best be off."

"Alright. Goodnight, Kakashi."

"Same to you, Iruka."

* * *

When Liyenn awoke, she noticed that it was dark out and that she was in a hospital room, all by herself. She looked and saw a bag of blood standing over her bed. She had really gotten the beating this time. She sighed and stared up at the ceiling. She was wondering who had saved her, considering she couldn't really see at the time. 

'_It was Kakashi-san.'_ came a voice from inside her head. Liyenn closed her eyes and saw the shadowed image of the Phoenix.

_Somehow, I knew he would if he knew..._

'_You've changed, Liyenn. Because you never believed that anyone would save you if you were in danger, before.'_

_I know_ Liyenn said to her. _But, you allowed me to see it..._

'_I didn't tell you to open up to these people, though. I just told you that you could trust them, that their auras were of good and not evil. Tell me, why do you trust them so much when you couldn't trust others?'_

_Because... they never really judged me like the villagers at home did. Besides, Naruto seen me crying... I couldn't hide the truth from him even if I wanted to. He would know that I was lying..._

'_Yes. I suppose you're right. It would've been wrong to lie to someone who considered you a friend, or at least, wanted to be your friend.'_

_Phoenix, I know it's weird for me to act that way around people... but I can't help it. There's just something about him that makes me act this way..._

'_You mean, more like yourself?'_

Liyenn gasped in realization. She was more like herself around Naruto. In matter of fact, she was more like herself since she moved to Konoha. Liyenn questioned this, which made the Phoenix chuckle. '_Liyenn-chan, it's not such a bad thing that you've returned to the way you're suppose to be, before you started working for that man and before your mother got sick and your father died. This is the you that came from that little girl. The shy, happy, trusting, lovable little girl you use to be.'_

_But how? She should be gone, not still here, right?_

'_No, Liyenn-chan. She was just suppressed_ _by the sorrow you were currently feeling... the feeling of being alone. Now that you know you will never be truly alone, your sadness has lifted, allowing the little girl's personality to take back control over your emotions and ability to interact with people. It was her that makes you love children so much.'_

Liyenn sat in the silence of her hospital, thinking about what the Phoenix had said. She had changed a lot since she met Naruto. Her mind was being taken over by a six year old? No wonder why she was so trusting now a days. Liyenn curled up in under her blanket, her eyes slowly drooping. She felt herself slip away into a pleasant sleep, one she didn't want to wake up from...

* * *

**People Introduced:**

**Phoenix** - Even though she was spoke about in earlier chapters, this is the first time we actually see Liyenn and the Phoenix(called Phoenix by Liyenn) in a conversation. Phoenix knows more about Liyenn's inner desires than Liyenn does, which sometimes makes Liyenn feel awkward.

**A/N:** The end of chapter fourteen. Thanks for reading this far! Lemme know wha cha think, please! See ya around!


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** Here's chapter fifteen for you! I need ideas on what to call it. If you have any, gimme a shout. Oh, and incase you didn't noticed, I changed the summary. Thanks to slytherinXprincessX16 and EroEro-Kitsune for your comments and opinions! It really means a lot!

* * *

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 15:**

Naruto awoke the next morning with a yawned. He groggily looked around the room and noticed that he was still alone. Liyenn hadn't come back yesterday from wherever she went. _Maybe her brother came back and she decided to stay with him..._ Naruto thought. He got some breakfast and got dress. He was to meet Sakura and Sasuke that day for training with Kakashi. With the Chuunin Selection Exam only a couple days away, Naruto needed all the training that he could get.

Naruto locked his door and did a stance. He than ran all the way to where he was suppose to meet everyone. He saw Sakura and Sasuke as he approached the bridge. "Good morning Sakura-chan! Sasuke." Naruto kind of grunted Sasuke's name. "Ready for the long wait for Kakashi-sensei again this morning?" Naruto asked.

Naruto had just finished his sentence when Kakashi showed up. "I heard that." Sakura and Naruto looked at Kakashi in disbelief. For the first time since they started training under him, Kakashi was actually on time for a session. Kakashi jumped down to face them. His face looked grim. "I came here to tell you that you're going to have to train yourselves this morning." Kakashi said.

"What?!" Naruto yelled. "You promised you would train with us today!"

"Sorry, Naruto. But there's something I need to tend to this morning that can't be put off."

"Oh?" Sakura seemed interested.

Naruto huffed a little bit, but then thought of something. "Hey, have any of you seen Liyenn lately?"

"What? You mean, she never came back from her hike?" Sakura asked. She seemed worried when Naruto shook his head.

"I haven't seen her." Sasuke answered bluntly.

Kakashi turned to avoid the question. The Hokage had ordered that none of the Genin found out about the assault on Liyenn, thus keeping it quiet all throughout the village. Some of the Genin would worry, while others would use it to their advantage. But, Naruto wanted Kakashi's answer. "What about you, Kakashi-sensei? Have you seen her?"

Kakashi turned to look at Naruto. "Er, no, Naruto. I can't say I have. Sorry." he lied. "I have to go now. I have to go visit a friend who's in the hospital." he said. Kakashi left before his Genin could ask anymore questions.

Kakashi arrived at the hospital some time later, deciding it was best to make sure his Genin didn't follow him. He walked through the hallway down to Liyenn's room. She wasn't awake yet, so Kakashi decided to sit around and wait. He had his book with him, anyway, so it wasn't like he had nothing to do.

Half an hour later, Liyenn woke up. She squinted her eyes and groaned. Kakashi looked up and saw that Liyenn was waking up. He put his book away as Liyenn looked towards him. "Kakashi?" she muttered.

"Good morning, Liyenn." Kakashi said to her. "How did you sleep?" he asked, trying to make small talk before getting onto the more important topics.

"Alright, I guess." Liyenn answered. She was still squinting her eyes, so she brought both of her hands up and rubbed her eyes. Liyenn sat up in her bed. As she did, her back crack in three different places. Kakashi smiled at the still sleepy Liyenn, realizing that he should've came in later instead of now. "What happened?" she asked Kakashi after she got all of the kinks out of her body.

"You were attacked just outside the village. You're lucky to be alive." Kakashi said. "You should've know better than to walk outside of a bigger village by yourself." he scolded.

"I'm sorry. I'm use to being able to leave the village when I want to." Liyenn looked down in shame.

Kakashi sighed and walked over to the window. "You must remember that you're not in your old village anymore. You're in one of five big shinobi villages now. Travelling alone is more dangerous when people know you're from Konoha, or one of the other shinobi villages." Kakashi said, not looking at Liyenn. "Now, I'm sure you've learned your lesson. But, we still need to know more about your attacker." Kakashi was now looking at her.

"He was my sensei, Osamu. I'm not sure what country he's from, but he's really strong." Liyenn didn't bother to left her head. "He was mad at me for killing Master-sama. He said that if it wasn't for me, they could've taken over the country."

"What do you mean?"

"They wanted the Phoenix's spirit. They could've been lords easily with it. The ability to control fire and the ability to heal? Even if it isn't instant, they still wouldn't be killed so easily. She just can't heal diseases. Takes too much energy."

"I see. Are there any more that could come after you?"

"I don't think so. I killed all of my other senseis and Yoshi-tou-san was already dead." She looked up when she realized that she didn't know what happened to Osamu. "What happened to Osamu-sensei?"

"I killed him." Liyenn looked at him. "He was going to kill you, Liyenn. If I didn't do something that moment, you would've ended up dead. I'm sure none of us wanted that, now did we?" Kakashi eyed Liyenn, who only shrugged. Kakashi sighed and moved to the bed. He sat on the edge and looked at Liyenn. "What did he specialize in?"

"He was my weapons sensei. He taught me about how learning to use more than one kind of weapon is better than learning to use just one." Liyenn looked down, and picked at her bandage a little. "I found out yesterday that he came up with the virus that Momma had, with the help of Saburo-sensei." Kakashi's eye widened and he looked away. _They found strange poisons on some of the weapons. He wasn't planning to...? No, not if he was going to kill her._

A nurse came into the room, carrying a tray of breakfast food. "Good morning, Liyenn. Kakashi." The nurse nodded to Kakashi who nodded back. "I brought you some breakfast."

"Yay!" Liyenn smiled and dug into her breakfast.

The nurse giggled. "After you finish your breakfast, I'll check your leg to see how it's doing, alright?" Liyenn nodded and the nurse left.

Liyenn ate her buttered toast and drank her glass of grape juice. Kakashi watched her eat and thought about what she had said about her sensei poisoning her mother with a geneticly created virus. Osamu wasn't going to let Liyenn live, so, why was he carrying poisons? It boggled Kakashi, and before he knew it, Liyenn had finished her breakfast. "Can you go get the nurse, please?" Liyenn asked him.

Kakashi nodded and went to get the nurse. The nurse came in, followed by Kakashi. "Well, you seem to be doing a lot better this morning, Liyenn." the nurse commented as she took Liyenn's blood pressure. "Last night when you were brought here, you barely had any blood left in your system. It's a wonder you survived as long as you did." Liyenn smiled. "Looks like you won't be needing this anymore." The nurse took the tube out of Liyenn's arm. The nurse seemed surprised that Liyenn's arm didn't bleed after she took the tube out.

"Now, for your leg." The nurse handed Liyenn her shirt before she moved down to her leg. Liyenn pulled on her shirt and the nurse uncovered Liyenn. She gently cut the blood stained bandage off of Liyenn's leg. The nurse suddenly gasped in amazement.

"What is it?" Kakashi frowned. He, too, took a look at Liyenn's leg and his eye enlarged from shock. Liyenn's leg was completely healed and her snitches had fallen out of her leg and onto the bandage. In matter of fact, there wasn't even a scar left over. _This must be the healing power she just spoke of..._

"Well, let's see if you can walk." the nurse said. She sounded happy. She helped Liyenn out of bed and Liyenn walked around the room. She had a bit of a limp, but she could manage to walk just fine. "Excellent!" the nurse exclaimed. "Looks like you'll be checking out today."

"Yay!" Liyenn exclaimed happily. She sounded like a little kid. She thought about what the Phoenix had said last night. _Stupid childish self..._ Liyenn grumbled in her head.

Liyenn got her clothes and put them on. Kakashi waited for her outside of the room and they headed for the reception desk. "I'm checking Ogokasi Liyenn out of the hospital." Kakashi told the woman behind the desk.

"You are?" The woman frowned. "So soon?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?" Kakashi asked.

"No, no. Not a all." the woman said nervously.

"Then we'll be leaving now."

Kakashi led Liyenn out of the hospial. They walked a little was when Liyenn thought of a question. "What did Naruto say?"

"Um?"

"When he heard about the attack?"

"Nothing. He doesn't know. Actually, nobody does. Hokage-sama was worried that some Genin would get worried, or try to use it to their advantage." Kakashi glanced at Liyenn. "Tell me, Liyenn. Did you know how strong Osamu was?"

"Yeah. I knew I couldn't beat him, which is why I tried to run by the village's gate. I couldn't lead him into the village, but I knew if someone saw something, they would send someone to investigate. Unfortunately, he almost succeeded in killing me."

"But he didn't." Kakashi looked at the limping girl beside him. He couldn't help but to feel relieved that he got there in time and that Liyenn survived. He sighed though. Naruto and the others would figure out that something happened, considering Liyenn was limping.

Kakashi led Liyenn to the training grounds where Sasuke and Naruto were sparring. Sakura watched them and cheered for Sasuke and booed Naruto whenever he got a decent hit on Sasuke.

The two of them were panting when Kakashi and Liyenn arrived. Liyenn tried her best not to limp, but she only found herself flinching in pain when she tried to walk normally. Kakashi saw this and sighed. "You shouldn't strain you leg too much, at least not yet. Wait a bit longer before trying to put your full body weight on it." Liyenn blushed and nodded.

As they approached the Genin, Sakura turned and noticed that Kakashi had Liyenn with him. "Hey! Naruto!" she called to Naruto.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan?" Naruto looked at Sakura, still panting.

"Kakashi-sensei's back. And he's got Liyenn with him!"

"He has?!" Naruto turned to look at Kakashi and saw Liyenn walking beside him. "Liyenn?!" Naruto ran to meet them. As he got closer, he noticed that Liyenn was limping. His face grew worried, while Liyenn only smiled.

"Hi, Naruto." she said. She looked at him and realized that he was staring at her leg.

"Why were you limping?" he asked her seriously. He was looking her in the eyes.

Liyenn gulped. She had to lie to him, but for some reason, she knew he wouldn't believe her. "I, um, tripped last night and hurt my ankle?" she said, though she was obviously lying. Kakashi sighed, knowing Naruto wouldn't let Liyenn off with this.

Suddenly, Naruto gripped Liyenn by the shoulders and gazed deeply into her eyes. "I know you're lying to me Liyenn." he said. Liyenn blinked. She could see the worry in his eyes, along with the hurt from her lying to him. "Why didn't you come home yesterday? What happened to your leg that's causing you to limp instead of walk?"

By now, Sasuke and Sakura was beside Kakashi, Liyenn and Naruto. The look on Naruto's face took the both of them off guard. They've never seen Naruto look so serious before.

"Well, Naruto..." Liyenn stopped and looked at Kakashi for help. Kakashi sighed and nodded. She gulped, for a second time, and faced Naruto. "Well, yesterday while I was out on my hike, I got attacked by someone, but after a kick or two, he went away. On my way back to Konoha, I was attacked again. This time by Osamu-sensei. He..." Liyenn looked away, not able to finish her sentence.

Kakashi sighed. "He tried to killed her." he finished for Liyenn. Naruto gasped.

"Where's the bastard now?! I'll kill him!" Naruto cried angrily, releasing Liyenn from his grip.

"He's already dead." Kakashi answered. "I finished him off before he could kill Liyenn."

Naruto looked at Kakashi, as did Sasuke and Sakura. "But, you told us you hadn't see her." Sakura said. "Does that mean... you lied to us about it?!" Sakura gasped and Naruto looked at him angrily.

"Hokage-sama gave direct orders for us not to tell any of the Genin about the assault on Liyenn. He feared that some of the Genin would get worried, or worse, use it to their advantage and try to eliminate her from the exam before she got to take it. She spend the entire night at the hospital with a wounded leg and was unconscious. She didn't wake up until a half an hour after I went to see her." Kakashi looked at Naruto. "That's why she didn't come home yesterday. She simply... couldn't."

Naruto looked at Liyenn, who was doing everything possible to avoid his gaze. His heart pounded in his chest. He almost lost her, and he wouldn't've known until it was too late. Naruto walked closer to Liyenn. Liyenn looked up at him when she felt that he was so close to her. Before she knew it, Naruto had pulled her into a hug, and it didn't seem like he was letting go of her anytime soon.

"Naruto..." Liyenn said quietly.

"Liyenn... I don't care if there's something you don't want to tell me, but please. Don't lie to me."

Sakura and Sasuke watched as Naruto hugged Liyenn. They've never really seen him like this before, so it kind of unnerved them.

_I guess he's not much of an idiot after all..._ Sasuke thought to himself.

_I wonder if Sasuke would ever act that way towards me?_ Sakura questioned as she glanced over at Sasuke. Sasuke looked up at her and she blushed slightly. _Who am I kidding?_ Sakura thought to herself. _There's no way Sasuke would be that kind to me..._

Naruto let go of Liyenn and looked at her. "Well, I guess you shouldn't be training yet, since you're still limping. You can watch us train though." He smiled at her.

"Well, I guess I could set up a free-for-all for the three of you. Just so you could all improve your skills against one another." Kakashi said. Three nodded and walked towards the centre of the training ground. Liyenn limped along. When she got as far as the three wooden poles, Kakashi holstered her up onto the one in the middle so she would be out of the way.

The trio then began their battle, which lasted the rest of the day. It was suppertime, so Kakashi decided it was time to call it a day. He only sat on the pole to Liyenn's right reading his book while his Genin fought, but it was still a long for everyone. With Kakashi's help, Liyenn jumped down from her perch as Naruto ran to meet her. "Did you see me, Liyenn?" he asked her excitedly.

"Yeah I did. You did a really good job today." Naruto beamed at Liyenn.

"C'mon. I'll take you to Ichiraku Ramen." Naruto said, offering Liyenn a shoulder to lean on.

Liyenn blushed faintly and accepted his offer, though the pain was almost gone from her leg. They were followed by Sakura and Sasuke, who were both amazed and amused by Naruto's new gentle nature. Naruto led them all to Ichiraku Ramen, where Liyenn took a seat on a stool as soon as she could.

"The usual old man." Naruto said. "Two bowls too." He smiled as Teuchi smiled at him and Liyenn. Sasuke ordered some for himself as did Sakura. Sakura frowned at how rude she thought Naruto was being.

The bowls were placed in front of the four and they began to dig in. Naruto and Liyenn started picking at each other after they each got their first bowl gone and were eating a second one each. Sasuke and Sakura gave the two weird looks when they heard Liyenn shriek with laughter. Naruto, too, gave a hardy laugh as he poked Liyenn in the sides. Teuchi and Ayame laughed at Naruto and Liyenn. They really enjoyed to company of the two younger ones. The stand was always full of joy when they were there together.

Sakura looked at Teuchi and saw that he, too, was laughing. "I don't know how you could put up with it all the time." she commented grumpily.

"It's quite simply. These two bring this stand to life every time they come here. It's nice to hear the sound of laughter close to the end of the day." Ayame explained. She noticed that Liyenn had finished her second bowl and smiled. "Would you like another bowl full, Liyenn-chan?"

Liyenn stopped laughing and smiled. "Yes please!" Liyenn raised her bowl up for Ayame to take. Sakura's mouth opened widely as Liyenn accepted the offer. _No wonder why her and Naruto get along so well... they could eat about the same amount..._

"Hey, Liyenn?"

"Yeah, Sakura." Liyenn answered through a mouthful of noodles.

"Aren't you worried about putting on weight if you eat like that?"

"Putting on weight? Are you crazy?" Liyenn frowned through her noodles. "I've seen people eat ten large bowls of ramen that could still eat more, and they were smaller than me and you. I'm a growing kunoichi! I need all this food to keep my energy levels up." Liyenn stated, shallowing her mouthful.

_I never really thought about that..._ Sakura looked down at her first bowl of ramen. She shrugged and finished it. She paid for her meal and stood up. "Well, it was nice spending time with you guys. I'll see you tomorrow." Sakura waved to her group of friends, who waved back to her... except for Sasuke. Sakura sighed, but smiled just the same. She left without another word.

"I best be going too." Sasuke said, standing to pay for his food. Without another word, he left. He didn't even say goodbye.

"How rude." Liyenn stated.

"Don't worry about him, Liyenn. He's always like that." Naruto said, chopping on his own noodles.

Liyenn put her empty bowl and yawned. It's been a really long day, and, even though she didn't train, she was really tired. Limping really takes a toll on one's body. Naruto saw Liyenn yawned sleepily. He smiled and hurried to finish his fourth bowl of ramen. He paid for all seven bowls and led Liyenn back to his apartment.

He unlocked his door and Liyenn walked on in. She flaked out on the bed and laid on her stomach as Naruto got his sleeping mat out and situated. "How's your leg?" he asked her.

Liyenn sat up and touched the place where the snitches were. Nothing. "It's all better." she said groggily. Naruto smiled at her. He was glad she was safe. "Hey, can you bring me my pajamas, please?" she asked him, pointing to her suitcase.

"Ugh, sure." Naruto ran over and got her pajamas from her suitcase. When he turned around, he saw that Liyenn had already taken off her vest and was pulling off her pants.

Liyenn looked and saw Naruto looking at her. "What? I'm too lazy to go to the wash room to change." Naruto placed her pajamas beside her, but he continued to stare at her. Liyenn looked at him and sighed. "Turn around."

"Wh-what?"

"Turn around. I'm not getting changed until you turn around. Geez, have more self control." Liyenn said. She sounded flustered. Naruto blushed and turned around. He had to fight the urge to turn around before she said he could, but he managed to control himself. "Alright, you can look now." Liyenn finally said.

Naruto turned and looked at her. Liyenn was under the covers now. Naruto couldn't help but smile at the look she gave him. "Perv." she muttered, but she was smiling. This made Naruto blush a little bit as he got into his own bed. He didn't like the fact that Liyenn thought he was a pervert, but at least she was joking about it.

Before another word was spoken, Liyenn was asleep. Naruto had tried to talk to her and found that he couldn't get a response. He peeked up over the edge of the bed and saw that Liyenn was facing him. He rested his head on the edge of the bed. He raised his arm up so he could caress the side of her face with the his finger tips. When he touched her face, Liyenn's skin twitched beneath his fingers. He smiled softly at the sleeping girl. He was so happy that she was ok, it almost made him didn't care that she had lied to him about it. But, he understood why she felt like she had to, and decided to forgive her.

Naruto turned over in his own bed. He smiled to himself before he fell asleep. He didn't know what was behind it, but he knew deep inside that there was something about Liyenn he adored. Naruto's eyes opened widely. Did he just say adored? He frowned at the thought, passing it off as a part of the friendship between them.

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**A/N:** End of 15. Thanks for reading this far! I hope you guys like it! And, like I said, if you got any ideas on what to call this chapter, or any ideas in generel, gimme a shout and I'll try me best to get them in! 


	16. Part of Team 7

**A/N:** Chapter 16 finally here. Sorry it took so long. I had a case of writer's block. Thanks to ACTION NARUTO LOVER, EroEro-Kitsune, and jpalacio for reviewing. It means a lot!

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**Chapter Sixteen:**

**Part of Team 7; Chuunin Exam Begins!**

Liyenn woke up the next morning and discovered that the pain her in leg was completely gone. She looked around and saw that Naruto was still sleeping. She smiled, and hurried to get changed before he woke up.

Liyenn finished using the washroom and found herself staring into a picture on Naruto's dresser. She picked it up, and smiled as she turned to face the sleeping Naruto. It was a picture of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi. Liyenn placed the picture back down and walked over to Naruto. She crouched over him, and, smiling softly, tickled his nose. Naruto flailed his arm around, trying to hit whatever was tickling him. He hit Liyenn's leg as he flailed, causing her to lose her balance. She fell over, accidentally kicking Naruto in the process.

"Ow..." Naruto groaned, waking up. He looked over to where the kick came from and saw Liyenn rubbing her buttocks, her face expressing pain. "Liyenn? What happened?" he asked, rubbing the spot where he was kicked.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Liyenn said, turning slightly pink. "I kinda poked your nose. And then you knocked me over."

Naruto blinked. He couldn't help but laugh. "Oh well. At least I won't be late for the Chuunin Selection Exam." he said.

Liyenn blushed a little more. He wasn't mad at her? In fact, he was basically thanking her! Naruto blinked at Liyenn and noticed that she was now a deep shade of pink. He smiled devilishly at her. "Are you feeling ok? You look a bit flushed." he teased.

"Shut up..." she grumbled.

Naruto laughed. He got up and dress before sitting down to have some breakfast. He looked at Liyenn as she watched him eat. "You want some?" he asked through a mouthful of toast. Liyenn nodded and sat with him. They ate in silence.

Naruto and Liyenn left his apartment and headed towards the school. They met Sasuke and Sakura at the school and then headed towards the third floor. Some Genin were causing trouble, saying that no one could get pass.

Sasuke took care of the Genin, leaving Liyenn time to look around and get a look at some of the other Genin participating in the exam. There wasn't too many of them there. _They must be already at room 301..._ she thought. Neither of the Genin surrounding them seemed too challenging, but it would be safer to keep her guard up, just in case. She glance over and saw Naruto and some black haired kid with their head up against the wall, both of them seemingly depressed about something.

Liyenn giggled as Sakura pulled Naruto and Sasuke along, and followed them to room 301. They walked so far before they were stopped by the black hair kid that they saw earlier.

"Would you fight me here, right now?" he asked Sasuke. Liyenn looked at the boy curiously. He was certainly... different, that's one thing for sure. He had thick eyebrows, and thick black hair in a bowl cut style. What caught Liyenn's attention the most, was the green body suit he was wearing. She had never seen anything like it.

"Here, now?" Sasuke asked. He looked surprised by the challenge. Liyenn looked at how uneasy Sasuke looked. _I wonder why he is so interested in fighting with Sasuke...?_ Liyenn thought to herself.

"Yes. My name is Rock Lee." said the boy with the green suit. Liyenn looked at the boy and decided to examine him. She strolled over to him, and he looked at her was curiosity. "Ah, what are you doing?"

"Ya know, you're a very interesting character." Liyenn stated, walking around him once.

Lee blinked and gave her a smile. Liyenn looked he noticed that his teeth were really white. "You... you really think so?" Lee asked.

Liyenn nodded and turned to Naruto. "Don't you agree, Naruto?" Naruto didn't respond. He was kind of flaming about the fact that Lee wanted to fight Sasuke and not him. Liyenn pouted when Naruto didn't respond, and turned her attention back to Lee. "So, you wanna fight Sasuke, huh? How come?"

"I want to test my abilities against an Uchiha." Sasuke flinched when he realized that Lee knew who he was all along. Lee looked at Sakura, his cheeks turning a deep pink. "And, well..."

Sakura screamed in disgust when Lee looked at her. "Eww. Those lower eyelashes... the lame hair style... those thick eyebrows! No!"

"There's no way you can resist my charm." Lee winked at Sakura and Liyenn laughed.

"Aww, that's so cute." Liyenn giggled.

"ARE YOU CRAZY, LIYENN?!" Sakura screamed after dodging multiply of Lee's 'charm' attacks. Sakura turned to Lee and shook her fist at him. "And you! Don't throw things like that! I barely escaped alive!" Lee looked down, feeling kind of bad. "C'mon guys, we've gotta go to the Chuunin exams."

"Yeah, you're right." Liyenn answered. She walked over beside Naruto and gave a smile. "It was nice meeting you, Lee. By the way, my name's Ogokasi Liyenn."

"It was a pleasure meeting you too, Liyenn-chan. Sasuke-kun, how about that fight?"

"I'll take him." Naruto gowled.

"Naruto, are you crazy? We don't have time." Sakura told him.

"Give me five minutes and I'll be done." Naruto said and he charged. Lee easily dodged Naruto's attempts, causing Naruto to hit the wall behind him.

"Naruto!" Liyenn gasped as Naruto hit the wall. She ran over to him. "Naruto, are you ok?"

"So, Sasuke-kun? What do you think?" Lee asked, turning his attention back to Sasuke.

"Sounds like fun. I'll do it." Sasuke smirked.

"Wh-what? But Sasuke-kun! What about the Chuunin exam?" Sakura asked. She gazed at the clock on the wall nearby. "We don't even have twenty minutes." she complained.

"Don't worry. I'll be done in five minutes." Sasuke said as he charged. _Yeah, that's what Naruto said too..._ Sakura grumbled to herself.

"Naruto?" Liyenn asked as Naruto stirred.

"What happened?" Naruto looked up and saw Sasuke fighting Lee. "S-Sasuke?!"

"Yeah, he agreed to fight Lee. Lee's really strong though, he'll probably beat Sasuke. He has a lot of physical strength." Liyenn looked at Naruto. "But, he's a good person. He could probably be a friend if we wanted him to be." They watched as Sasuke got beaten by Lee. Well, almost. Before Lee got his final attack off, someone intervened. "What was that?" Liyenn asked, giving the random pinwheel a questioning look.

Sasuke fell through the air and was caught by Sakura. Liyenn and Naruto looked over at Lee and noticed that he was being scolded by a turtle. Liyenn and Naruto both gave the turtle a questioning look. They looked at each other, both of them getting the same idea.

"Hey, hey, hey." Naruto said to his teammates.

"Yeah?" Sakura turned to him and Liyenn.

"That's a turtle, right?" Naruto asked, pointing at the turtle.

"Well, yeah. Isn't that obvious?" Sakura stated, sounding annoyed.

"Can animals be senseis?"

"How am I suppose to know that?!" Sakura yelled.

Before they know anything, a new man had appeared, one that looked a lot like Lee. He had thicker eyebrows and the same bowl cut as Lee. He, too, was wearing a green body suit. Liyenn noticed how much they looked a like. _They're either father and son, or Lee idolizes this man, _she thought.

They watched as the man punched Lee across the face. Liyenn gave a yelp in surprise, and then frowned. "How could you do that to your student?!" she cried angrily at him. The man ignored her as he pulled Lee into a hug. As Liyenn watched, she tilted her head. These two were different, that's one thing for sure, but they were good people.

The man looked up and saw Liyenn give a sigh of relief. "Is there something wrong?" he asked her.

"No, sorry. I was just confused on why you hit him, that's all."

"It was his punishment for starting a fight." the man explained.

"I still don't think that violence is the way to go." Liyenn said. She gave him a look that looked very familiar to him. The man looked into her eyes and knew, at that instant, that he had seen them somewhere before. Then moved his gaze to the other three standing beside her. He knew they must've been Kakashi's, but who was this girl?

"Lee, for your punishment, you're going to do 500 laps around the village."

"Wait, what about the Chuunin exam? There's not enough time?" Sakura warned them.

The man looked at Sakura. "Right. I almost forgot." He returned his attention to Lee. "Lee, your punishment for starting a fight and almost using that forbidden jutsu will take place after the Chuunin Selection Exam." He looked at the group of Genin behind him and smiled. "Hey. How's Kakashi-sensei doing these days?" he asked them.

"You know Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. You could say we are... eternal rivals." the man said. He disappeared and reappeared behind the group. "50 wins, 49 loses. You can say that I'm stronger than Kakashi."

Liyenn looked at the man, her head still tilted to one side. He was one to arouse curiosity, that's one thing for sure. He turned to her after she noticed her looking at him. "Your eyes. I've seen them before."

Liyenn perked up and smiled. "Oh?"

"Yes. What's your name?"

"Ogokasi Liyenn." she answered.

"Ogokasi? As in Kenshin?" The man looked surprised.

"Yes. He was my father." Liyenn looked at him. "You knew him?"

"Knew him?! He was only one of Konoha's finest men. The name's Maito Gai." He glanced over the other three. "Sorry about Lee. I promise by this beautiful face that it won't happen again."

"I'm sure it won't." Liyenn said, smiling. She turned to Lee. "I guess we'll see you in the Chuunin Exam."

"Yeah." Lee answered. Gai disappeared, leaving the five of them alone. "The truth is, I lie to you all earlier."

"Really? What do you mean?" Liyenn asked.

"The strongest Genin is probably on my team. I came to this exam to test my abilities. I want to prove myself against him. And now..." Lee turned his attention to Sasuke. "...you're one of my targets as well." Sasuke gulped. Liyenn only smiled.

"Well, I wish you luck then, Lee. Have fun." Liyenn told him.

"Fun?" Everyone looked at Liyenn as if she was insane.

"Yes. Fun." Liyenn's smile got wider. "What's the point of taking this test if you're going to be so serious? It's only a test, so we might as well have fun taking it." Liyenn explained.

"Yeah, I guess so." Lee waved to Liyenn before leaving. "Good luck to you, Liyenn-chan." With that he left.

"He seems really nice." Liyenn commented.

"The Uchiha clan isn't really worth much these days." Naruto commented. Liyenn turned to him, giving him a questioning look, while Sakura yelled and Sasuke glared. "You saw it too, his hand. I'm just saying that he probably worked really hard for this. Training day in and day out." Naruto side glanced at Sasuke. "More than you."

"Hn." Sasuke glanced at him with a smirk. "This is beginning to sound fun. This Chuunin exam. C'mon. Let's go." Sasuke led the way up to the third floor, where Kakashi was waiting for them.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked. She sounded surprised.

"I see you all decided to come." Kakashi said, beaming at his students. "I'm glad you decided to come, especially you, Sakura. You see, this test needs to be taken in teams."

"Huh?" Sakura looked kind of surprise, and Liyenn looked kind of disappointed. She didn't have a team, which meant she couldn't take the exam. "You lied to us."

"Well, I had too. If not, Sasuke and Naruto would've pressured you into it. You would've felt like you had to take the exam, even if you weren't ready." Kakashi glanced at Liyenn and noticed that she wasn't looking at him like his team. It hit him, when he thought about, that Liyenn wasn't really a part of his team, she was just Squad Seven's tag-a-long. He sighed. He wanted Liyenn to take the exam as well. "Well, Liyenn, I guess since you can't do the exam alone, you're going to have to work with my team."

Liyenn's face light up when he said this. "Really?"

"Well, yes." Kakashi smiled at Liyenn's beaming face. "It will only be for this exam. I'll make sure I tell the Examiners about you before the exam starts." Kakashi smiled at his team. "I wish you all the best of luck at this exam."

Without another word, Naruto, Liyenn, Sakura, and Sasuke walked into room 301. Everyone who was there looked at them as they came in. Liyenn looked around, trying to get a look at everyone. A lot of them looked pretty strong. Actually, a lot of them looked older and seemed to have more experience than they did.

"Sasuke-kun!" came a voice from somewhere behind Sasuke. Liyenn looked and saw that a blonde-haired girl had attached herself to Sasuke. "I'm so glad you made it!" the girl cooed.

Liyenn looked at Naruto and whispered, "She's one of the Sasuke fan girls, huh?" Naruto nodded.

The blonde and Sakura were now into a deep arguement. Liyenn walked over and smiled at the girl. The girl and Sakura stopped arguing to watch Liyenn. "Who are you?" the girl asked.

"Oh, my name is Ogokasi Liyenn. I'm new to this village and I'm official a member of Squad Seven for the Chuunin Selection Exams. Who are you?"

"I'm Yamanaka Ino. New to the village, huh?" Ino gave an evil smirk. "So, tell me, what do you think of the village?"

"I think it's a nice place. The scenery is really pretty."

"Oh? What about some of the people?" Ino quizzed. She had a devilish smirk on her face.

"Who do you mean?" Liyenn smirked to herself, knowing that Ino was talking about Sasuke.

"Well, are they nice? Find anyone you like?" Ino was now up in Liyenn's face. By this time, Naruto had walked over beside Liyenn. He wondered what Ino was trying to do to Liyenn.

"I've met some nice people. But, I've been hanging around with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura mostly, so I don't know too many people."

"Oh?" Ino was now looking a little angry.

"Yeah. But I like hanging around with them. They are so much fun!"

Ino looked shocked. "Fun?!" She found it hard to believe that hanging around with Sakura and Naruto was fun... they were so annoying.

Liyenn nodded and smiled wildly. "It's fun to watch Naruto and Sasuke spar with one another. I get to see them in action! I get to see all of the new techniques they work on and all that fun stuff!" Liyenn smiled and wrapped her arms around Naruto's and Sasuke's necks. "Besides, what could be more fun than hanging out with my friends?" Liyenn winked and pecked each boy on the cheek. Naruto turned a bright red and Sasuke turn a light pink. Liyenn laughed as Ino gave her a death glare. Sakura couldn't help but giving a little giggle, knowing that Liyenn was purposely trying to get in under Ino's skin.

"Yeah, you must be new if you like hanging around with them." commented a familiar voice.

Liyenn turned and to see where the voice came from. A group was coming towards them, the same group Liyenn saw when Kakashi took her to the Hokage's office to have her abilities tested. "I know you. You were at the Hokage's office when I went there last week."

"Yep. That's right." the boy with the dog commented.

"What do you mean by that?" Liyenn asked.

"Mm? Oh yeah. You don't know what they're really like."

"Meaning?" Liyenn folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm just saying that if you saw what we did, you wouldn't be so happy to be stuck with them."

"I really don't know what you're talking about. I'm living with Naruto until I get my own place, and he's been very kind to me."

"Whatever, Sempai." The boy turned his nose up.

"Huh?" Liyenn looked confused by the new name and was shocked by it.

"Sempai. You're older than us, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not that much older."

"You just look like a 'Sempai' to me, that's all. Oh, my name's Inuzuka Kiba. This is my team, Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino." Kiba introduced his team. Liyenn gave a small smile and turned back to Naruto. He was looking down, his face still a little red.

"Naruto?" Naruto looked up when Liyenn addressed him. She had kissed him! Of course she was only trying to tick Ino off, but she could've done that by kissing only Sasuke.

"Yeah Liyenn?" He faced her, wondering what she was going to say to him. She opened her mouth to speak but she stopped. Her face became distorted as she rubbed her temple. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you ok?"

Liyenn didn't say anything for a moment. A sharp pain hit her in the head as if her skull had just taken a heavy blow. She gave a small groan before looking up. She saw that Naruto and Sakura were staring at, both wearing worried expressions.

"Liyenn, are you alright?" Sakura asked her, taking a step towards Liyenn.

Liyenn dropped her hand, her face returning to normal. She gave a faint smile. The pain went away just as quickly as it came. She frowned at it, but continued to smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a sharp pain, that's all."

Naruto and Sakura both sighed in relief. As they did, an older boy walked towards them. "So, you're the rookies, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Sasuke answered. "Who are you?"

"Yakushi Kabuto. This is my seventh time taking the exam."

"Seventh?" Liyenn repeated. "Wow."

Kabuto raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck. "They have this exam twice a year, and this is my fourth year, so, yeah." Liyenn eyed him suspiciously. Something wasn't right about him. But, she decided to bite her tongue and not say anything. It would be wiser than causing trouble between them. Kabuto began showing the rookie Genin his Nin-Info cards, showing them how they worked and giving them a demonstration. Sasuke asked for information about Lee and Gaara, and Kabuto gave it to him. Kabuto looked up and saw Liyenn watching him. She frowned at one point. He decided to make small talk. "I thought there were only nine rookies?"

"Yeah, that's right." Sakura answered.

"Then, what about you?" Kabuto asked, pointing at Liyenn.

"I'm not a rookie. I just moved here and I'm taking the exam with Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura." Liyenn explained.

"Just moved here, huh? I notice you're not even wearing a hitai-ate. Miss your old village that much, huh?"

"Not really. There was nothing left for me at my old village, so I came here with Kakashi and his team. I'm not wearing my hitai-ate because I just don't want to. Nobody actually said you _had_ to wear it." Liyenn stated.

"Interesting. Can I use my Nin-Info cards on you?" Kabuto asked. "I want to see your information."

"Only if you can gather it." Liyenn smirked.

Kabuto began his jutsu and Liyenn's picture came up on the card, along with her physical information and her mission information. All of her stats were unknown. "Wow. There's actually not a lot I could gather on you." Kabuto's eyes widened when he looked over Liyenn's mission record. "A B and A rank mission at your level, and you actually survived. Plus, you don't have a team. Very impressive, you must be very good." Kabuto raised an eyebrow. It was really unlikely that a girl her size could do these kind of missions.

"Well, I have done assassinations before. With the help of my senseis, that is." Liyenn said. Everyone looked at Liyenn. She was definitely impressive, but how good was she really?

Kabuto smirked and continued to explain more about the other countries that were participating in the exam. He told them that some villages, like Hidden Sound, were ones they shouldn't worry too much about. Kabuto stood with his cards in hand and put them away. As he did, he was attacked by the Sound ninja. Kabuto managed to dodge the attack, but his glasses still managed to get broken.

Everyone gasped out of shock. He had dodged the attack! How did they manage to hit him! Kabuto smirked, but it quickly faded as he fell to the fall and threw up. Naruto and Sakura ran to Kabuto's aid. Before anyone could move, the door flew up, revealing a large group of men.

The man leading the group looked over at the Sound ninja. "Stop causing trouble." The man looked over the group of Genin in front of him as the Sound ninja apologized. "All of you who are taking the exam. Now that the exam is about to start, none of you are allowed to fight without permission from the Examiners. If you're caught causing trouble, you will be disqualified." A murmur came from the crowd, letting him know that they understood. "Good. I'm Morino Ibiki. I'm the Examiner for the first part of the Chuunin exam. You are to take a number and take a seat in the location where your number meets."

Naruto blinked, wondering what was going to happen. Liyenn looked over at Naruto. He seemed nervous about what the first part was going to be about. One of the men flicked through a pile of papers. Naruto gulped when he realized what it was. "A written test..."

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**A/N:** End of chapter 16. I hope you guys liked it. And, thanks for reading this far. Lemme know what you think, please! 


	17. Wondering

**A/N:** Here's chapter 17 for all those who enjoy my story. Thank you so much for reading this far. Thanks to -Choking On A Dream-, slytherinXprincessX16, EroEro-Kitsune, obliviandragon, and jpalacio for reviewing and for your opinions and suggestions. It really means a lot.

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**Chapter Seventeen:**

**Wondering**

Liyenn looked around the classroom. She was placed in the back, so she could pretty much see most of the classroom. She glanced around to find out where everyone else was sitting. Naruto was closer to the front in the other column with Sakura a few rows back. Sasuke was only half a column away from her. Liyenn frowned. What was the meaning of this? Something was up, she could tell from the arrangement of the candidates.

The Examiner, Ibiki, looked over the group of students before him. He noticed that one of them, a girl in the back, was sizing up the class a great deal. Perhaps she already figured out the exercise? Ibiki smirked.

"As of this moment, there will be no speaking. That means that you are not permitted to ask questions." Ibiki noticed that a few people were frowning at him. "This test consist of ten questions, so this test will be done with a ten point scoring system. Each correct answer gives you a point. If you get third wrong answers and seven right answers, you'll receive seven points. If you get all the answers wrong and receive no points, than you will fail.

Also, every time you're caught cheating, you will lose two points. The Chuunin surrounding this room are specialized in seeing what goes on during a situation like this. If you get caught cheating, it will be recorded by the Chuunin who caught you. The ones who get caught five times will fail. Now, if one person fails, the entire team fails along with the individual."

A gasp arose from the crowd. People started looking around, looking for their teammates. Fear and panic spread through the room. If that was the case, over half of the people in this room were going to fail. One or two in every couple rows remained calm, or at least tried to be.

"The tenth question will be given out at the 45 minute mark. Now, the test begins!" Ibiki commanded. The sound of flipping paper filled the room. This was going to be an interesting test.

Liyenn flipped her paper over and scanned through the question. _These are all Chuunin level question. Phoenix, do you see this?_

'_Of course I do, Liyenn-chan. You know what this means, right?'_

_Of course. If there are Chuunin level questions, someone must have all the Chuunin level answers. This test requires us to cheat to get the answers. We just need to find the person who has all the answers. Phoenix, are you willing to help me?_

'_Of course I am.'_

Liyenn placed two fingers to her forehead. After five minutes of complete concentration, Liyenn removed her fingers, pulling an invisible, eerie essence out of herself. Liyenn could see it's orange aura, she being the only one. _It's ready. Are you going to take over?_

'_It's a piece of my soul, I'm already in control. Just let it go and let me handle the rest.'_

_Alright. I hope this works._

'_Have faith, Liyenn-chan. We've been practising this technique since before you killed the Tsukiko clan. We've perfected it only a month ago. Nothing well go wrong.'_

Liyenn gave a small nod and turned back to her paper, trying not to look too suspicious. Liyenn watched as the small orange essence roamed the classroom, looking for the answers. She smirked, as she couldn't help but think back to when the Phoenix first started teaching her this technique. She remembered how she would practice it behind her master's back, while she was suppose to be sleeping.

At first, Liyenn would pass out from having the essence pulled out of her body. She was so use to having a full Phoenix soul in her body, it felt as if her own soul was being ripped apart. When Liyenn was finally able to stay conscious, she still had difficulty trying to turn the soul piece invisible to the human eye. Yoshi had walked in on her once, thinking she was asleep. He saw the orange essence and questioned Liyenn right away. Liyenn explained that it was a technique the Phoenix was trying to teach her. Yoshi was good enough to promise not to say a word about this to their master or any other of her senseis.

It took Liyenn almost a full five months to successively pull an invisible soul piece out of her body. After all of this training, Liyenn was also able to hand control over it to the Phoenix or take control of it herself. But, since the Phoenix had a extremely good memory, it would be best if she controlled instead of Liyenn.

Liyenn watched the soul fragment continue it's search for the answers. She had to suppress her giggles as people shivered or gave panicky looks when the soul fragment flew through them. Just because she was the only one who could see it, didn't mean that others couldn't _feel_ it. It obviously frightened people, as they never experienced anything like this before, most likely.

Suddenly the essence stopped above one man's head. It did a little dance, indicating that it had found the correct answers. _'I've found the answers, Liyenn-chan. Let me take over your body long enough to write them down.'_

_Alright. It was fun knowing that I've finally got this technique right._

'_It was a pleasure teaching it to you.'_

Liyenn felt the Phoenix smiling at her from inside. Though Liyenn had never really seen the Phoenix personally, she could tell that the Phoenix had a beautiful smile. Liyenn felt her hand glide around the paper, writing down the answers that the Phoenix had just seen. _Hey, Phoenix?_

'_Yes, Liyenn-chan?'_

_Shouldn't you already know the answers?_

'_Yes, I suppose that's right, but...'_

_But?_

'_Where's the fun in that?'_

_True._

'_Finished.'_

_What? Really?_

'_Yes. I added a personal touch so it wouldn't looked too obvious, but the answers are exactly like the Chuunin's I found.'_

_You know, it's kinda smart what they did._

'_What do you mean?'_

_They snuck Chuunin in as Genin and tricked us into believing that we had to know the answers to get through the exam. That was until we flipped over the paper to see that the questions they asked are beyond our understanding._

'_You understood parts of them though, didn't you?'_

_Well, yeah. I mean, I was trained by seven different people for two and a half years. When I trained with them, it was one-on-one. But, I still didn't know the answers. I just understood what each question was asking, and why I was being asked. The weapon one with all the points, if I stayed under the training of Osamu-sensei for a little bit longer, I would've been able to answer it. But, alas, things happen and changes one's life._

'_Yes, indeed it does.'_

Liyenn looked around and noticed that the soul fragment was still hovering over the Chuunin's head. She snickered as she thought of making it visible and seeing the horrified looks on the other people's face. She then got an idea. _Hey, Phoenix, can you look around the classroom? I wanna see how everyone else is doing._

'_Sure thing.'_

Liyenn watched the essence wander around. Her own vision was now connected to it, so she could now see whatever it was looking at. A lot of people were doing extremely will in this exercise. Liyenn saw all the ways that people were cheating. Sasuke was using his Sharingan, the girl that was with Lee was positioning mirrors over another person's test for the answers. Liyenn also noticed that Sakura was doing ok by herself, as well as a few other Genin. Liyenn also saw how many people were getting tossed out as well. All around her, people were getting caught and failing. She just hoped nobody from her team was stupid enough to get caught.

The essence suddenly stopped on Naruto. _What?!_ Liyenn stared hard at Naruto's paper. Not one single answer. _So this is why he freaked out over a written test. He hasn't cheated... does he not realize the purpose of this exercise?_

'_By the look on his face, I wouldn't say so, Liyenn-chan. But, I believe what he's doing is a noble deed.'_

_Huh?_

'_He doesn't want to cheat. I noticed that he had the opportunity to do so, but turned it down so he and the other person wouldn't get in trouble for it. Although, I have to agree with him.'_

_What do you mean?_

'_In the shinobi life, information is, at times, more valuable than a person's life. Gathering information is something all shinobi need to be able to do. If someone gathers the right information from you, than lives are at state. If you gather wrong information from another, than your life is at state. It's as simple as that. But, Naruto chosen not to gather any kind of information, meaning nobody's life is on the line right now. Nobody can get information from him, so they can't get the right information, along with he's not gathering wrong information. It's better to have no answers at all than to have all the answers for someone to take.'_

Liyenn looked at Naruto from her seat. She wanted to help him with this test, but the Phoenix said that he'll have to figure something out on his own if this is the route that he was taking. Liyenn knew that the Phoenix was right, being a lot older and wiser than she was. Liyenn sighed and looked at the clock. 40 minutes had passed since the test began. She had finished her first nine questions twenty minutes ago and was now waiting on the final question. She hoped it wasn't going to be too hard, for the simple fact that she wanted Naruto to pass this exam. He wanted to become Hokage, a dream she once had too. But now, after becoming such good friends with him, she had decided to part with that dream and help Naruto on his path. She respected him, admired his confidence, his ability to remain strong, his never ending happiness. She didn't want to be only factor between him and his dream.

Liyenn gazed at the clock again. 45 minutes into the test. She looked at Ibiki, waiting for him to give out the last question. "Alright. It's time for me to give you all the tenth question. First of all, you receive a choice." Ibiki started.

_A choice?_ Liyenn frowned at Ibiki, thinking that he was, indeed, a very strange man. Who gives out choices for an exam?

"Your first choice: you can choose to not take this question. If you do not feel confident enough to take it, raise your hand and you and your teammates will fail the exam. You'll be able to take the exam again next year when you feel like you're better prepared for it.

Now, your second choice. You can choose to take the tenth question. However, if you get the answer wrong, you and your teammates will fail. Also, you will never be able to take this exam again."

Panic and fear spread through the room, once again. People were darting looks at one another, sending them threatening messages with their eyes. A lot of people gulped. Suddenly, one hand shot up. "I can't do." said a boy. He and his teammates were directed out of the room, the person who raised his hand telling the others how sorry he was.

A few seconds afterwards, more hands went up, more people failing. Liyenn looked around the classroom and saw that there was only 79 people left in the exam room, counting herself. Her gaze fell upon Naruto. He was shaking in his seat, and she felt bad for him. There was no way possible for him to finish this exam, not with his test paper. If he failed, he may give up on his dream, and Liyenn didn't want that for him. She felt as if it was the only thing to do, seeing Naruto wasn't going to do it himself.

Liyenn shakily began raising her hand. As she did, she noticed that Sakura was doing the same thing. Before Liyenn got her hand all the way up, Naruto raised his own hand. Liyenn was shocked, but a little relieved. Suddenly, Naruto's hand slammed back down. Liyenn wondered the meaning of this.

"You're not going to scare me off!" Naruto stated. "I never back down from a challenge! And, I'm going to become Hokage, even if I do remain a Genin forever!"

Ibiki smirked. "Are you sure? This is your final chance."

"I never go back on my word. That's my way of the Ninja." Naruto gave a smile, one that spread throughout the exam room. Liyenn gazed around at the room. She noticed that any sign of the unconfident was gone. It appeared that nobody was going to back down now, not after what Naruto said. Liyenn gave a small smile as her gaze fell on Naruto again. He was really something.

Ibiki smiled and looked at the Chuunin that surrounded the room. Each of them smiled and nodded at him and he returned their nods with one of his own. He turned to the class and gave a smile. "I now declare the first part of the Chuunin Selection Exam over. Everyone here passes."

The students exchanged confused and questioning looks. "Huh?"

"The question just asked was the tenth question. In the shinobi life, you accept or decline missions. Since these people were offered a second chance, they took it in hopes they could get better. But, in reality, once you accept a mission, there's no turning back. Lives are on the line, either your's or someone else's. You won't be offered a second chance if things go wrong during a mission, in fact most likely you'll die." Ibiki glanced around the classroom. Most people were beginning to understand.

One girl, the one Liyenn knew to be Temari, seemed out raged. "What?! So the first part of the exam was nothing but a waste of time?!"

"No. The first part of the exam was to test you ability to gather information." Ibiki started. Liyenn yawned out of boredom, as she already heard this speech only ten, fifteen minutes ago. Ibiki finished his speech and looked around the crowd, as did Liyenn. Both saw Naruto doing a little dance. Liyenn smiled at him. He was one determined person, and that was part of the reason why Liyenn liked him.

Without warning, a ball of cloth broke through the window. "Huh?" was what came from the crowd of Genin. The ball opened, revealing a woman dressed in fishnet clothing, a short skirt and wearing a long overcoat and high leg protectors.

The woman looked up and examined the class before her. "My name is Mitarashi Anko. I'm the Examiner for the second part of the Chuunin Selection Exam."

"You're early." Ibiki stated from behind the sheet.

"Geez, Ibiki, there's 79 people left. The first exam must've been too soft." Anko complained.

"Well, we've got a group of intelligent students this years." Ibiki commented.

"We'll see about that. I'm going to make sure that over half of them fail the next part." Anko smirked.

_Over half?_ Liyenn frowned when the new examiner said this. What was she planning?

"I'll have your senseis notified about the location and time of meeting. I'll see you all then. You're all dismissed."

Liyenn left the classroom and waited for Naruto and the others to arrive. "How'd you find the exam, Sempai?" Kiba asked her as he came out of the exam room.

"It was alright." Liyenn looked passed Kiba, as she was looking for Naruto.

"Alright? Hn, I found it pretty good. I bet Naruto didn't do too good on the first nine questions, though." Kiba snickered.

"It's ok if he didn't." Liyenn commented, giving Kiba a 'watch it' look.

"Oh, of course it is. It just doesn't give him a great chance of passing the next exam."

"He passed the first exam, didn't he?" Liyenn said. Annoyance rung in her voice.

"Well, yeah." Kiba looked down at the floor. He could tell Liyenn didn't like it when people bad mouthed Naruto, just from the tone of her voice. "Well, what are you doing now? I mean after you leave the academy?" Kiba asked her, trying to steer away from the topic of Naruto.

"I'm waiting for Naruto to come so I could go home and sleep. The test was only an hour, but I'm really tired. Why?" Liyenn looked at Kiba. She could tell that he was a little disappointed. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I was just wondering if you'd like to get anything to eat with me." Kiba confessed. Kiba looked at her and noticed that her expression had soften. In fact, she was smiling at him.

"Thanks for offering, Kiba. It means a lot. But, I'm really tired right now. Maybe some other time." Liyenn suggested.

"Alright. I understand. Good luck on the rest of the exam, Sempai. I look forward to facing you." Kiba said before turning to leave. Akamaru gave a small, happy bark.

As Kiba left, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura came out. "What did he want?" Naruto muttered.

"Oh, Kiba only asked if I wanted to go get something to eat with him. It's nothing important." Liyenn said. She looked at Naruto and saw that his expression was of both anger and annoyance. "I'm not going with him. I'm really tired. I just wanna go home." Liyenn gave Naruto a reassuring smile. "What's the big deal if I did go with him, anyway?"

Naruto looked at her and blushed. "Nothing. There wouldn't be any deal." Naruto avoided Liyenn's eyes in fear she would think something of him. It's not like she was committed to him, so what was the big deal if she went with Kiba for a hour or two?

Sakura looked at Naruto and smiled. But, she decided to let it go and change the subject. "So, Liyenn, how did you find the test?"

"It wasn't too bad, I s'pose. Although the purpose of it was too obvious."

"I agree." Sasuke said. "You could tell from the questions."

"Oh, it was far more obvious than that." Liyenn smiled as the four of them left the academy.

"What do you mean?" Sakura looked confused.

"Didn't you notice the arrangement of the candidates? They made sure that no one from the same team was going to be sat next to each other."

Sasuke smirked. "Oh, I get it. They knew we would try to cheat stupidly if we were sat together. So, they separated us, to force us to gather information from afar."

"Exactly." Liyenn smiled as she walked.

"Wow, Liyenn, you're really smart." Sakura was, indeed, amazed.

"Thank you, Sakura." Liyenn beamed.

"It was really obvious though. You'd have to be an idiot to not see it." Naruto commented. Liyenn stopped walking and turned to Naruto. He looked so calm when he said that, she couldn't help but giggle.

"What do you mean?!" Sakura blared at Naruto. "It's so obvious that you didn't see, you moron!" They continued the walk home like that. Sasuke remained quiet, Sakura yelling at Naruto, Naruto trying to apologize to Sakura, and Liyenn laughing at the likes of them. When Liyenn yawned, Sakura and Naruto stopped arguing and smiled. "I guess we should be getting home. We've got another exam tomorrow." Sakura said softly.

Sasuke and Sakura said goodnight to Liyenn and Naruto and went their own ways. Liyenn smiled at them before turning to Naruto. "Hard bunch, aren't they?"

"Yeah, well." Naruto looked down at the ground as he walked. He was thinking about how Kiba asked Liyenn to go eat with him. Naruto couldn't quite understand why it bothered him so much. It wasn't like Liyenn was his property, and Liyenn could go off and do whatever she wished. She didn't need to ask him. But still, it bothered him. It bothered him so much, that he barely heard Liyenn speaking to him.

"Hey, Naruto?" Liyenn turned her head to look at him when he didn't answer. She frowned. It wasn't like Naruto to not answer her. "Naruto?" She tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to snap out of his thoughts and look at her.

"Wh-what?" Naruto looked dazed, like he had just waken up from being hit in the head too hard.

"Is there something wrong? I mean, you've been ignoring me since Sakura and Sasuke left."

"Wha? Oh, sorry. I was thinking, that's all." Naruto looked down again. He looked at her again and decided he should ask her the question that was playing on his mind. "Hey, Liyenn?"

"Yeah, Naruto?"

"You weren't really gonna go with Kiba, were you?" Naruto asked. He shuddered a little bit as he spoke and he didn't even look at Liyenn. Liyenn frowned at the question, wondering why he would ask something like this.

"Probably not." Liyenn answered. Naruto looked up at her, surprised by her answer.

"Oh?"

"Will, it was nice of him to offer."

"But?"

"I dunno. He seems like he would be a good friend if he stopped mouthing off at others behind their backs." Liyenn was looking at the ground now. She really didn't know what to say. She liked hanging around with Naruto and she didn't feel like she was quite ready to be around other people, one-on-one that is.

The rest of the way was walked in silence. Nobody really knew what to say. Both were thinking about why the other was acting the way they were and why they cared so much. Whenever they happened to glance at each other and accidentally catch each other's eye, they would both turn shades of pink and turn away from each other.

Liyenn shook her head fiercely. _What's wrong with me?! It's only Naruto! And what's the big deal if I did go with Kiba?! Why does Naruto care if I did?!_

'_Maybe there's something else he cares about.'_ the Phoenix suggested.

_What do you mean?_

'_What if he wants you to be with him all the time? What if he's jealous that Kiba-kun grabbed your attention?'_

_Like, as if Naruto likes me?_ Liyenn could feel the Phoenix smiling from within her. Her cheeks turned a deep pink when she thought about. _Phoenix, that's crazy! You know that Naruto likes Sakura!_

"Hey, Liyenn." Liyenn looked up and saw Naruto looking at her. He seemed a bit worried. "Are you ok? You look like you're frightened about something."

"No, no, I'm ok." Liyenn smiled. She could tell she was still blushing, but she didn't really care. As long as Naruto didn't ask about that, she was fine. Suddenly, a cold breeze blow by, sending a shiver up through Liyenn's spine. She stopped in her tracks and rubbed her arms to make them warm. She felt that her arms were covered in small bumps and she knew her legs were in the same state. She sighed and continued walking. _Leave it to me to be wearing shorts and a t-shirt._ Liyenn grumble to herself. Sure, she should be use to it by now, but, alas, the weather always got the best of her.

Liyenn looked up and saw that Naruto's apartment wasn't too far away. She would survive the remaining distance. Then, she felt a new warmth covering her upper body. She looked to see what it was and saw that it was Naruto's bright orange jacket. He had draped it over her shoulders when he noticed her shivering.

"You seemed a bit cold, and I didn't want you catching a cold or anything." Naruto explained. He was only wearing a black t-shirt now, and Liyenn could see that his own arms were growing goose bumps.

"But, what about you? Won't you get cold?"

"I'll be fine. C'mon, let's get you back to the apartment before you become a popsicle on me."

Naruto grabbed Liyenn around the waist and began to jump onto the building tops. It would be much faster than walking on the streets, and Liyenn wouldn't get so cold. They landed on the doorstep of Naruto's apartment building and Naruto released his grip on Liyenn. They walked up to the apartment and Naruto let Liyenn in. He told Liyenn that he would be right back and that she should get changed while he was gone.

Naruto left Liyenn standing there, wondering about what had just happened. Her face was still pink from earlier, but she hardly noticed that. She sat down on the bed and started to think. What if Naruto did like her? No, that wasn't possible. Everyone knew that he had feelings for Sakura. But, what about herself? Did she have feelings for Naruto? Liyenn thought about it for a while. She had never felt more like herself around anyone before. She had never really defended anyone besides her mother, father and Yoshi before either. But, she was back to her old self around Naruto, and she had made it clear to Kiba that she wouldn't have him mouthing off about Naruto where she was.

Liyenn remained on the bed for a little while, going over some pass events, trying to figure out her own feelings. She sighed as she discovered that her feelings were a mystery to even herself. She decided that she best get changed before Naruto get back, or else he'd be asking why she didn't change yet.

Liyenn was changed and in bed before Naruto returned. She looked and saw that he was carrying a small basket with bath supplies in it. Naruto got into his own pajamas and situated his sleeping mat. He sat up in his bed, waiting for somebody to speak. He noticed that Liyenn was deep into her own thoughts and decided that he would leave her alone to think about whatever it was she was thinking about.

He laid down and he, as well, started to get lost within his own thoughts. Things were different with Liyenn around, that's one thing for sure. Naruto couldn't stop wondering why the thought of Liyenn and Kiba being together bothered him so much. He had feelings for Sakura, but there was something about Liyenn that made him not want to let go of her. For some unexplained reason, it actually felt right when he wrapped his arms around Liyenn's tiny waist to carry her to his apartment. They both sighed as they both fell into a deep sleep.

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**A/N:** End of Chapter 17. I hope you all liked it! Thank you for reading this far. Lemme know what you think, please! 

**Important** **Note:** I'm moving in a couple of weeks, and I'm not going to have a computer, so it's going to be a while before I can update this story. I will try my hardest to update it as much as possible before I leave, I promise. I'm sorry if I keep you all waiting too long.


	18. The Second exam Begins

**A/N:** Here's chapter 18. Sorry it took so long, I was having a bad case of writer's block. Anyway, thank you to slytherinXprincessX16, EroEro-Kitsune, ACTION NARUTO LOVER, -Choking On A Dream-, and Panterra for reviewing. It really means a lot.

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**Chapter Eighteen:**

**The Second Exam Begins!**

Liyenn jolted awake the next morning. When she sat up, she kind of wished she didn't. Her head hurt, like it did yesterday before the first Chuunin exam. The pain lasted a little longer than it did before, but it went away after a minute or two. Liyenn sighed and got up to stretch. She got out of her pajamas and into her normal clothing. Today, the second part of the Chuunin Exams began, she didn't have time to worry about the random pains in her head... especially if they were random. She went into the kitchen and was greeted with a big, buttery, Naruto grin. "Good morning, Liyenn. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you." Liyenn smiled. She sat down in a chair across from Naruto and helped herself to a slice of bread with butter on it. She began to reach for the milk when Naruto stopped her.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you." he warned.

"Why not?"

"It's getting spoiled. I wouldn't want you getting sick before the Chuunin exams, especially if it's because of me."

Liyenn looked at the carton of milk and frowned. _He didn't get any fresh milk?!_ Liyenn sly her eyes at Naruto. She was thirsty and wanted something to drink. And here he was telling her that she couldn't drink the milk!! She grumble. At least he cared enough to tell her first. She sighed and grumpily bit into her bread.

After they finished breakfast, Naruto went and got dressed as Liyenn cleaned off the breakfast table. She picked up the carton of milk and shook it. It sounded alright. She opened it and sniffed it. She almost gagged. She grumble at Naruto some more and threw the carton and the remainder of its contents in the garbage. She made a mental note to go buy a fresh carton after the next exam was finished.

Naruto and Liyenn left the apartment together as usual and were off to find Kakashi. They had both gotten up a little earlier than normal just to go find him. He was suppose to tell them where the meeting place for the next part of the Chuunin exam was.

"Hey, Naruto, Liyenn." came the familiar voice. Naruto and Liyenn turned around and saw Kakashi standing a little ways behind them. He walked towards them, picking up the pace slightly to catch up. Liyenn noticed that he was being followed by Sasuke and Sakura when he got closer. "I was looking for you all over." Kakashi said. He sounded tired, but he was smiling. "Let's go. I'll lead you to the next exam."

The group of five walked towards an enclosed, circular forest. Four of them was into conversation, but one remained silent. Kakashi glanced at Liyenn and noticed that she was looking weary, like Yokomo did when he went to see her. Not only that, but Kakashi could tell Liyenn wasn't having a good morning. She was normally more energetic than this, even in the morning. Or, at least more talkative. But, for his own safety, Kakashi decided not to say anything about it.

Liyenn looked and noticed the fenced in forest. She wondered what the propose of the area was, but decided not to think to hard about. The examiner would explain it after she figured it out herself, so it was nothing more than a waste of time to even try.

'_Liyenn-chan?'_

_Yeah Phoenix?_

'_Is there anything wrong? You're not acting like yourself today.'_ The Phoenix sounded a little worried.

_I don't think so... Sorry if I seem angry or anything._

'_I'm not the one you're going to have to apologize to if you say the wrong thing.'_

_You're right. What's wrong with me? Headaches and now a bad mood?_

'_You're right. It's not normal for you. You never had headaches before, and your bad moods never lasted this long. Maybe I should run a check on you.'_

_No, I'm going to need your help with the Chuunin exam._

'_But, Liyenn-chan. Your health is more important than a test.'_

_Phoenix, if I get sick, I'll get sick. It'll be just another challenge to get through, that's all. I'm not going to give up on the Chuunin Exams just because of a little head pain._ Liyenn hoped she had made herself clear. Her headache was gone now anyway, there was no use in worrying about it. Liyenn looked around and noticed that Kakashi had left them. She sighed. She really didn't need this right now. The Phoenix nagging at her, that is.

The examiner, Anko, was waiting for everyone. She scanned over the crowd, counting everyone to make sure everyone was there. She determined that everyone was there and decided to go on with the second part of the exam. "Alright you maggots, we're about to began the second part of the Chuunin Selection Exam, so listen up." Everyone stared at Anko. "This is area 44. An advance battle training used by the advance shinobi. This is where the exam will take place. Take note that this place is filled with wild animals and traps of all sorts. Let's just say, you've been warned." Anko smirked at some of the looks she received.

Naruto began mocking Anko. Liyenn slapped her forehead, realizing that the examiner wasn't going to take this nicely. "You're not gonna scare me away!" Naruto cried out. Suddenly, his face started bleeding and Anko appeared behind him. Liyenn looked shocked at the speed, and at the fact that the examiner would actually do that.

"So, you think you're tough, huh?" Anko held a kunai to him. Nobody dared to move. Liyenn watched as a boy moved behind Anko, his tongue wrapped around a kunai. Anko felt the presence behind her and readied herself for an attack. Anko realized that it was only an Genin returning the kunai she had thrown at Naruto. But still, he was too close to her for comfort.

"Sorry if I startled you, but I was just returning you knife." the boy said, tipping his hat politely.

"Aw, thank you. But, I'll have to warn you to never stand this close behind me ever again. Alright?" Anko warned.

"Sorry, but me hair got nipped by your kunai and the sight of blood just excites me." the boy said innocently.

"Alright, well, back to the exam." Anko moved to the front of the crowd. Liyenn frowned. Anko was dangerous. Why would the Hokage allowed her to be an examiner if she was this dangerous? Maybe he didn't know. Liyenn shrugged and her gaze fell upon the other boy, who had now returned to his team. Something didn't feel right about him, like he was wearing a mask or something. Liyenn dismissed it, believing the stress of this next test was already getting to her.

"This exam is going to test your ability to survive. You'll be inside this forest for five days, looking for these." Anko held out two scrolls, one white and one blue. "Each team will receive either an Earth or a Heaven scroll."

"So, how do we pass the exam?" said a boy that was with Ino. Liyenn couldn't remember if Naruto introduced him to her or not.

"You must bring both an Earth and a Heaven scroll to the tower in the centre of the forest within five days." Anko looked around and noticed a few horrified looks. "Yes, that means only 13 teams can pass this exam. And since this is a survival exercise, more people will fail due to lack of know-how, and being picked on by the stronger Genin. Also, you can only pass if, and only if, you have all three team member with you, _alive_, along with both scrolls." Anko was about to put the scrolls away when she remember something else. "Oh yeah. It's also against the rules to look at the scrolls before reaching the tower. If you decide to take even a small peek, you will automatically fail the exam."

Anko gave her scrolls to one of her assistants and held up a pile of forms. "Now, I want you all to take one of these consent forms. That way, if you die in there, no one would be able to blame us for not warning you. You will be given 30 minutes to decide whether or not you wish to take the exam. If all three members of the team sign the forms, you will exchange them here for your Earth or Heaven scroll. Now, my advise to you all is - Just don't die!"

Anko sent everyone on their way. Liyenn read through the consent form. _I thought the examiner was dangerous, but I guess this test is just one big danger._ Liyenn sighed and climbed a tree. It was more peaceful there, so she would be able to think more clearly. She had just got comfortable when she heard a noise from below. Liyenn peered down her branch to take a look at what was going on.

Ino and Sakura had just ran into each other. For some reason, they were calling each other names with no real purpose. Liyenn sighed and jumped down from her spot, frightening both Ino and Sakura. "Liyenn. I didn't realize you were so close by." Sakura said, sounding a little relieved.

"Are you ready for the exam, Sakura?" Liyenn asked her. Liyenn glanced at Ino and noticed that Ino had a 'I want to kill you' look on her face. Liyenn turned to face Ino, her expression blank. "What's your problem?"

Ino glared at Liyenn. "You're the one that kissed Sasuke-kun!" Ino fumed. She moved to land a hit on Liyenn, but Liyenn easily dodged it.

"I'm really not in the mood to be dealing with you right now." Liyenn said, causing Ino to fume a little more. "I'll be more than happy to have this day over with."

"You better apologize for kissing Sasuke-kun or else!" Ino warned.

"Or else what? You can't even hit me." Liyenn gave a cold smirk, and turned back to Sakura. "I'm sorry I kissed Sasuke the yesterday, Sakura. It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up."

Sakura blinked and giggled a little bit. She wasn't used to seeing Liyenn act so coldly towards anyone, but seeing Liyenn trying to make Ino mad on purpose was just too funny. "It's ok, Liyenn. I understand, completely. I know what it was about." Sakura answered, still giggling a little bit at the flaming Ino behind Liyenn.

Liyenn gave a small, not-so-cold smile and started to walk away. "C'mon. Let's go find Naruto and Sasuke and tell them that we're ready for this exam." Sakura nodded and followed Liyenn. Liyenn stopped and turned to Ino before walking on. "Goodbye Ino! I'll try not to make any moves on Sasuke within the next five days." Liyenn stuck her tongue out at Ino and turned, running away from the sence. Sakura followed her, laughing to kill herself.

After the two got so far away, that stopped to catch their breath. Sakura was still laughing at what Liyenn done to Ino. "Hey, Liyenn?"

"Yeah, Sakura?"

"Why did you do that? I mean, to Ino."

"Well, she acts like she's all that and that she owns Sasuke. I just think it's funny to use him to piss her off. Besides, she don't really know me, since I'm new, so she probably assumes that I like him, like almost every other girl in your class." Liyenn explained.

"So, what _do_ you think about Sasuke?" Sakura asked, now a little more serious.

"Well, personally, I don't think I would be able to be clung onto him all the time. He's not the nicest person I've met, and he doesn't strike me as the adorable type, because of his attitude. But, if that's what you girls want, than go for it."

Sakura blinked. Liyenn was more different than she realized. Sakura realized that Liyenn's ethics were good ones, that she was looking for personality in a guy and not looks. Sakura grinned devilishly and decided it was time to figure out if Liyenn did indeed like someone already. "So, Liyenn? Did you find anyone that you like in this village?" Sakura said, smiling.

"What do you mean by 'like'?" Liyenn asked, looking at Sakura.

"I think you know what I mean." Sakura walked a little ways ahead and Liyenn followed her. "I saw you and Kiba getting along well yesterday. What do you think of him?"

"Well, he's a little loud and possibly rude. He tried to turn me away from being Naruto's friend. Saying things like 'Naruto probably didn't too good on the test' and stuff like that. Trying to make it seem like Naruto wasn't good enough for anything." Liyenn sighed. "It was nice of Kiba to offer to take me out for food, but he didn't have to put down my friend." Liyenn finished.

Sakura's smile grew wider. "What do you think of Naruto?" Sakura saw a small blush spread across Liyenn's face when she was asked this, making Sakura smile even more.

Liyenn was stumped for words. She wasn't even sure if what she felt for Naruto was just from their friendship or if it was something more. But, she had to say something, or else Sakura would start thinking things that weren't true. "Well, he's really good to me. He takes me out for food without complaining about it and he's always offering to help me with whatever I need. He's a really good person, with a really big heart. Sure, he may be a little loud at times, but at least he doesn't put people down or try to hurt them." Liyenn felt her cheeks growing a little warm and she knew that Sakura could see it.

"You like him, don't you?" Sakura snickered, but her expression softened. "There's nothing wrong with it if you do. I have a feeling that he cares for you more than what he lets on as well." Liyenn looked down, realizing just how red she had become. Sakura just patted her on the back and smiled. Sakura looked up and saw Naruto coming towards them.

"Sakura-chan! Liyenn!" Naruto called out to them. Liyenn looked and gulped. Naruto would surely ask her what was wrong if he saw her blushing like this. She was relieved when Naruto didn't say anything to her about it when he got closer. "You guys signed your forms yet?"

"Yip!" Sakura chirped. Liyenn smiled and nodded her head, her blush fading as determination replaced it.

"Alright! Let's go find Sasuke and get our scroll." Naruto turned and walked away, Liyenn and Sakura following him. Naruto was really excited about this exam. He was so confident that he'll do well, it gave Liyenn more confidence as well. Sakura watched Liyenn watching Naruto and smiled, nudging Liyenn hard in the sides.

"What?" Liyenn hissed, rubbing her side where Sakura nudged her. "That really hurt."

Sakura giggled. "Stop staring then." Sakura giggled more when Liyenn's eyes grew wider.

"Wh-what?! I wasn't staring at anything!!"

"Sure. Like I'm suppose to believe that." Sakura faced Liyenn and winked. "I saw you." she chirped. Liyenn's cheeks flushed again, causing Sakura to laugh a little harder. Naruto glanced back, wondering what was going on.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked, turning around to face the two girls. He noticed that Liyenn's face was turning pink, and his expression became worrisome. "Liyenn, are you feeling ok? You're not getting a fever, are you?" Naruto asked, pressing a hand on Liyenn's forehead. Sakura giggled as Liyenn's blush deepened.

"No, I'm fine, Naruto. Thanks for asking though." Liyenn said, pulling herself away from his touch. Liyenn walked passed him, and continued her search for Sasuke. Sakura couldn't help but laugh even harder.

Naruto looked at Sakura, raising an eyebrow in the process. "What's so funny?" he asked her, giving Sakura a very confused look.

Sakura sighed and wiped away a tear. "Ah, Naruto. You really are a big dope."

Liyenn continued her walk, but instead of looking at where she was going, her eyes were glued to the ground in front of her. She could feel that her cheeks were still burning from when Naruto touched her face. She didn't understand it, she never felt like this before. What was it about Naruto that made her cheeks burn so fiercely?! Liyenn didn't know anything before she was on the ground after walking into something. "Ow..." Liyenn rubbed her behind. "That really hurt..." Liyenn muttered to herself. She moved to stand up, and looked up to face Gaara. Her eyes widened from shock, but she was grateful he hadn't done anything to her yet. "Sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." Liyenn gave nervous smile, followed by a nervous giggle.

A boy wearing a black suit, the one known as Kankurou, glanced at her from around Gaara. "Hn, you decided to pick a fight with us by yourself, did ya?" He moved towards her, and soon he was close enough that Liyenn could feel him breathing on her. "Still believe I can't fight on my own?" Kankurou snarled at her.

Temari sighed. "Kankurou, leave her. You know we'll get disqualified if you start a fight with her." Temari looked at Liyenn. "You better get lost before I change my mind about you."

Liyenn didn't say anything, she was still looking up at Kankurou. Kankurou smirked at the hint of fear in her eyes, but he could also see a hidden confusion beneath it, which was probably caused by something else. _What's with this kid?_ Kankurou frowned at Liyenn, causing her to frown in confusion. Liyenn's ear perked and she turned around as someone called out to her. "Hey! Liyenn!" Liyenn looked and saw that it was Sasuke.

"Sasuke?" Liyenn asked. She soon saw Naruto and Sakura were close behind him. She gave a sigh of relief. She was glad that Naruto and the others came. Not that she was afraid of these people, but Kankurou was uncomfortably close to her. She knew he was trying to read her thoughts, trying to sense any sign of fear of him. She turned her attention back to Kankurou and gave him a small bow. "Again, I apologize for bumping into you." She bowed to Gaara and then to Temari. "Good luck with the exam." Liyenn left them standing there, Kankurou looking really confused, as did Temari. But, Gaara remained emotionless.

"She just wished us luck?" Kankurou sounded as confused as he looked. "She's from a different country though. Why would she do that?"

"I don't know." Temari eyed Gaara and shallowed hard. He was glaring at Liyenn, who was she walking towards her own team.

* * *

Liyenn walked over to her group, still looking at the ground. She noticed that Naruto was grumbling about something when she got closer, but he wasn't loud enough to hear what he was saying. 

Sakura met Liyenn, her face contorted with worry. "Are you ok? They didn't hurt you, did they?" Sakura asked, grabbing Liyenn's hands. Liyenn looked taken aback by Sakura's worry.

"Yeah. I'm fine Sakura. Temari wouldn't let Kankurou hurt me. She said they would get disqualified if he did." Liyenn gave a small, insecure smile, one that Naruto caught onto very quickly.

"What about that Gaara person?" Sasuke asked with interest.

"He didn't say or do anything. And he was the one I ran into." Liyenn continued her smile, which made Naruto uneasy. Liyenn caught Naruto's eye, and noticed that he was concern about something. Most likely it was because he thought Kankurou had hurt her. Naruto glanced down at the Sand team, and sent them a very dirty look.

"Alright. Since you're not hurt or anything, let's go pass in our consent forms and get our scroll." Sasuke said, changing the subject. They started walking towards the station and Sasuke glanced back at Liyenn. "It seems like your bad mood has lifted." Sasuke said, giving her a small smirk.

Liyenn blinked when he mentioned her bad mood. She hadn't really thought any more about it after she picked on Ino. Maybe it just made her feel better, just to act a little coldly towards someone. She sighed as she handed her form to Naruto. The Chuunin handed Naruto a Heaven scroll, which Naruto placed into his pouch.

The four of them left the booth together, Naruto and Sasuke a little further ahead than Liyenn and Sakura. Liyenn had her head down, as she was thinking about how Kankurou frowned at her so suddenly. "Did anything happen between you and the team from Suna?" Sakura asked her.

Liyenn looked up at Sakura. She shook her head gently before answering. "Not really. Kankurou was just too close for comfort." Liyenn looked down again. "He was staring into my eyes. I think he was trying to see if I was afraid of him. But he frowned at me, and I don't understand why." Liyenn shook her head again as she thought about it.

"That's really weird. Maybe if you ever become friends with him, you should ask." Sakura suggested.

"Keh. Sakura, if you heard how he spoke to me, you wouldn't be saying that. I think he was still mad at me for mocking him about his puppets." Liyenn said, looking ahead at Naruto. She smiled gently and knew that Sakura had followed her gaze. Sakura giggled a little bit, making Liyenn positive that Sakura's eyes had followed her own. But, Liyenn smiled anyway. _At least you'll always be my friend..._

The four of them stopped walking when they were in front of their assigned gate. A Chuunin instructor greeted them, telling them to prepare themselves. The minutes ticked by and Anko gave the word. "The second part of the Chuunin Selection Exam has officially begun!"

Liyenn, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke headed into the forest. Taking a few steps into the forest, Naruto stopped and pointed in front of himself. "Alright. It's time to go wild!"

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**A/N:** End of chapter 18. I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading this far! Lemme know what you think. 


	19. Snake Bite

**A/N:** Here's chapter 19! Thanks to ACTION NARUTO LOVER, EroEro-Kitsune, slytherinXprincessX16, Panterra, and -Choking On A Dream- for reviewing. It really means a lot!

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**Chapter Nineteen:**

**Snake Bite**

The four entered the forest, ready for whatever was coming. Naruto took off into the bushes due to the fact he needed to go pee. Sakura wouldn't let him pee in front of her and told him to go somewhere else.

"Sakura, I really don't think that was a good idea." Liyenn said, waiting to hear a rustling noise.

Sakura looked at Liyenn with a confused look. "You mean, I should've let him pee in front of me?! That would've been gross!" Sakura made a disgusted looking face. Liyenn just sighed at her.

"I bet you wouldn't've hit Sasuke over the head and told him to go somewhere else." Liyenn muttered. She sled her eyes at Sakura, making her flinch and blush. "This forest is dangerous. What if he got caught in a trap, or worse. What if he got ambushed?" Liyenn pointed out.

Sakura's eyes fell to the ground while Sasuke nodded his head in agreement with Liyenn. "I'm sorry. I didn't realise it." Sakura said, still looking at the ground. All three of them turned when they heard a rustling noise from behind them. Naruto came from behind a bush, bragging about how much he peed. Sakura turned to Liyenn, a smile on her face. "See, Liyenn. Nothing happened. Naruto got back fine." Sakura's smile faded when Liyenn didn't smile back. Instead, Liyenn looked pass Sakura, directly at Naruto.

Liyenn walked by Sakura, closer to Naruto. She gave Naruto an evil glared, which made Sakura afraid. "Who are you? And where's Naruto?" Liyenn asked the boy in front of her. Sasuke smirked.

"Wh-wha? What do you mean? I am Naruto." The boy looked confused.

"Then where's the wound that the examiner gave before we started the exam." Sasuke asked, approaching Liyenn. Sasuke went to attack Naruto. Sakura jumped but Liyenn never moved. Naruto managed to block most of the attacks.

"What are you doing?!" Naruto asked him.

"The way you block. It's different from Naruto. Besides, Naruto's right handed... you're left handed." Sasuke smirked at the person in front of him. "In fact, you're worse at the _henge_ than Naruto is."

The boy dropped his disguise, revealing himself to be a Genin from Rain Country. Sasuke and the boy faught and Liyenn ran through the forest, trying to find Naruto. She found him, tied up and wriggling to get free. Liyenn ran over and cut him free using a kunai knife. Naruto stood up and the ropes fell off of him. He took Liyenn's kunai and started running towards the fight. With Naruto's help, Sasuke got the Rain Genin to leave them alone.

When the Rain Genin left them and they all regrouped, Sakura turned to Liyenn. "How could you tell it wasn't Naruto?" Sakura asked. "I know how Sasuke saw it, but I know you saw something else. Do you mind sharing?"

Liyenn blushed a little bit. "Well, he spoke differently, and the look in his eyes weren't the same. And, his... his smile was different too." Liyenn explained. She glanced at Naruto and saw that he was smiling at her. Her blush deepened as she turned her head away from him, causing Naruto to give her a confused look. Sakura only giggled.

"Thanks, Liyenn." Liyenn looked at Naruto. He smiled at her. "For knowing the difference between my smile and someone else's."

Liyenn smiled a little as her face turned even redder. "It was no big deal. I mean, anyone who knows you pretty well would be able to tell the difference." She swallowed, trying to make her blush go away. Saukra's giggling certainly didn't make matters better, and even Sasuke wasn't helping, as he was giving Liyenn a more evil smirk than normal. She knew that they all knew better. Well, except for Naruto, which made her feel more relieved.

The four of them sat down in a clearing. Sasuke was looking at everyone was a very serious look on his face. "I think we should have a password." The four of them discussed the importance of the password and Sasuke invented one. Liyenn and Sakura got it after hearing it once. Naruto, on the other hand, didn't get it at all.

Before they knew it, a strong gust of wind came up, blowing the group apart. Liyenn got up and rubbed her back side. "Man, I've got to stop falling on my ass. It's really becoming a pain." Liyenn continued to rub her bottom until she met up with Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke stopped her, asking for the password. Liyenn sighed and repeated his password perfectly. Sasuke loosen his grip on his kunai and allowed Liyenn to come closer.

Soon, Naruto approached them. This time, Sakura stopped him and asked him for the password. He recited the password perfectly, and Sakura sighed in relief. Sakura then noticed that Sasuke was preparing himself to attack. But before Sasuke got a chance to move, Liyenn had attacked Naruto. She kicked him back and pinned him to a tree. "Where's Naruto?!" she demanded.

"Liyenn?! What are you talking about?! That is Naruto!" Sakura screamed. Sakura was about to run over to Liyenn and pull her off of him, but Sasuke stopped her. "Sasuke-kun?"

"Liyenn's right. This person isn't Naruto." Sasuke stated, confirming Liyenn's choice. Sasuke smirked and turned to face Sakura. "You know just as well as I do that Liyenn would never attack Naruto. Not for anything."

Sakura looked down, knowing that Sasuke was right. "But, how do you know it's not really Naruto?" Sakura asked. She sounded confused and a little scared.

"He knew the password, off by heart." Sasuke said, his smirk was now gone. "What do you think the real Naruto would've said when we asked him for the password?"

Sakura looked over at Liyenn and the fake Naruto. It came to her. "'Sorry. I forgot.' That's what he would've said."

"Exactly."

Liyenn looked into the eye of her new opponent. Her eyes were full of hatred, which made the new boy smile. She tightened her grip on him when he smiled, causing him to smile even more. The boy looked at Sasuke. "Tell me. Why give such a long password if you knew your comrade would forget it?"

"I knew you were listening in on us. I knew that if Naruto came to us and gave us the password correctly, that it would've been a trap. You would've been more successful if you decided to capture and transform into either Liyenn or Sakura."

The boy smiled again, this time, he licked his lips with his tongue. In a cloud of smoke and dust, the boy transformed back into himself. When the smoke and dust settled down, Sasuke and Sakura saw that the boy had grabbed Liyenn by the wrists and had lifted her off the ground. Liyenn struggled to get free, flailing her legs at him in hopes she would kick him and get free. But it seem that the more she struggled, the tighter his grip got around her wrists. Her face winced in pain. "Let go of me!" she cried, feeling her hands becoming useless.

The boy gave an evil laugh. "As you wish." the boy retorted, throwing Liyenn into Sasuke and Sakura. Liyenn stood up, rubbing her wrist. She glared at the boy. Sasuke and Sakura stood on each side of her, preparing themselves for the attack. Before Liyenn knew it, Sasuke and Sakura had both fallen over. She didn't quite understand. "So, you didn't get caught in my Genjutsu?" the boy asked her. "No matter, you'll die just the same."

The boy stepped closer, pulling out three kunai. "I was hoping for more of a challenge from you." The boy sounded disappointed. Liyenn turned to the two younger Genin by her sides. Sasuke seemed like he was trying to move, despite whatever fear he was feeling. But, Sakura wasn't doing to well. She was shaking, tears flowing from her eyes. Liyenn had to move fast, but she could only carry one of them at a time. What was she suppose to do. Her eyes were glued on Sasuke has he stabbed himself in the leg with a kunai. Liyenn quickly grabbed Sakura and jumped through the trees, Sasuke close behind her.

They stopped after five minutes of racing through the trees. Liyenn set Sakura down in front of Sasuke, who was panicking and still had the kunai stuck in his leg. Liyenn looked around, watching for their opponent from Grass. She glanced over when Sasuke pulled the kunai out of his leg. Both her and Sakura froze when they glanced to their side. A giant snake was looking down at them as if he had just found his next meal. Liyenn gulped and jumped out of the way as the snake bit the tree branch where she was just standing. That was one really big snake. Liyenn shivered at the thought of what would've happened if she didn't jump in time.

The snake went after Sasuke, who was still suffering from his panic attack. Liyenn could sense Sasuke's fear, and decided it would be best if she drawn the snake's attention to herself, since she wasn't panicking. She aimed a kunai at the giant reptile, hitting it underneath its eye. Liyenn made a hand sign and the kunai bursted into flames, causing the snake to look Liyenn's way. It slithered its way towards her, and suddenly disappeared. Liyenn turned around, looking for the snake. She stiffened when she sensed the reptile behind her.

The snake broke Liyenn's branch with it's tail, sending her a few feet into the air. Liyenn heard Sakura scream, and looked to see what it was. She saw the snake's mouth was open, waiting for her to drop into it. Instead of sliding down into the creature's throat like excepted, Liyenn landed on one of the snake's sharp fangs. Liyenn screamed as the fang pierced her body. The scream was heard from all around, causing many of the Genin to look around in fear.

Liyenn let out many more smaller screams as she felt the fang against her flesh, tears started to roll down her cheeks from the increasing pain. Her vision started to fade, but she could feel the snake wrap its tongue around her body and slowly begin to pull off its fang. She grimaced in pain as she felt the fang being pulled out of her. She could hear screaming from somewhere behind her as she felt herself being lifted into the air. Soon, her body started to fall, and her vision went completely black.

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Liyenn woke up after what seemed like an eternity. She started to sit up, but found that a pain in her side was keeping her from doing so. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was. When she looked around, Liyenn noticed that there was something done to her body. She saw that Naruto's jacket was falling off of her and then she saw the real damage. Liyenn saw that most of her upper half was covered in bandages. She started to think, wondering how she ended up like this. It hit her when she remembered the snake's attack. She looked confused. That snake was going to eat her, how was that she was still alive? 

Liyenn's ears perked when she heard voices from somewhere outside of her hiding place. She forced herself to stand, despite the pain, to see what was going on. She had to wrap her hand around her side, due to the constant pain there. With her free hand, Liyenn rummaged through her pouch, searching for a kunai. She feared that the voices she heard were coming from the Grass Genin that had attacked them earlier. Without really thinking, Liyenn threw a flaming kunai towards the voices. She heard a scream or two and gave herself a reassuring smirk.

"My chip... somebody burnt my chip." whined a male's voice.

"What?" came Sakura's voice. "Liyenn must be awake then." Sakura moved closer to where Liyenn was standing. Liyenn prepared a second kunai, waiting for the advancer to strike. Sakura gave a yelp of surprise to see Liyenn with a kunai in her hands. "Whoa, Liyenn. Calm down. It's me, Sakura." Sakura said gently. But Liyenn didn't loosen up.

"The password." Liyenn demanded.

"What?" Sakura looked confused.

"Tell me the password!" Liyenn barked, forcing Sakura to take a step back. Sakura then understood and recited the password, low enough so that only Liyenn could hear. Liyenn nodded at her, and started to take it easy. Liyenn started walking towards Sakura, but Sakura held her hand out to stop her. "What's wrong?" Liyenn asked, sounding slightly confused.

"Oh no. You're not facing four boys like that." Sakura said, forcing Liyenn to take a look at herself. Liyenn smiled when she saw what Sakura was talking about. She was bandaged, yes, but her small, but still there, breasts were uncovered. Liyenn gave a small blush and Sakura hand Liyenn Naruto's jacket. "I hope you don't mind wearing it. I have to get your own clothing cleaned and patched up before you can wear it again." Sakura explained. She stuck out her tongue as Liyenn started to pull it on. "I'm sure you won't mind a bet, though."

Liyenn gave Sakura a gentle punch in the arm. "Shut it, you." Liyenn said. She smiled as she said it, making Sakura believe what she said was true. Sakura led Liyenn out to the group of people that were there, after she zipped up Naruto's jacket. It was way too big for her, but at least it covered her.

Liyenn saw Ino when she met the group, and snickered a little bit. "So, Sakura? What happened anyway? I mean to sound disgraceful or anything, but shouldn't I be dead?" Liyenn asked bluntly, causing the other three Genin to give her weird looks.

"Well, yeah. You should be dead." Sakura answered, just as bluntly. Ino and her teammates glared at Sakura. That was kind of rude. "Naruto caught you just before you landed in the snake's mouth, which is the reason why you're not snake crap somewhere in this forest right now." Sakura giggled at some of the expressions she got. Liyenn only laughed.

"So, what about my wound?" Liyenn asked. A smile was plastered on her face. Naruto saw how Liyenn was still smiling, and he was completely amazed. He smiled when she did. He was happy he was able to save her.

"Well, luckily for you, none of the snake's venom got into your system. But I still had to strip you, clean your wound, and sow it together. That was the tricky part. I couldn't find anything good enough to be used as a needle, and I had to pluck out a strand or two of my hair for the stitching. But, I managed ok and got your wound closed. I just need to wash and repair your clothing. So, you're going to be wearing Naruto's jacket for a while." Sakura explained. She glanced at Liyenn, who was now wearing a blank expression, and smirked. "You don't mind wearing Naruto's jacket for a while, do you?" she snickered.

Liyenn blinked and childishly stuck her tongue out at Sakura, making her laugh. Ino watched as Liyenn and Sakura picked at each other and remembered what Liyenn said before taking off the other day. Ino began to glare at Liyenn. Liyenn didn't notice Ino, instead she was looking at Sakura. "Hey, Sakura? Why'd you cut your hair?" Liyenn finally asked.

"I was trying to protect all of you from some Sound Genin. One of them took a hold of my hair, so I had to cut it. To get free." Sakura explained.

"What did I miss?" Liyenn muttered to herself. She stared at the ground in front her, trying to figure out if she remember anything else. "How long was I out for?" Liyenn asked, sounding very serious.

"A little more than 24 hours. It's ok now, though. You're safe." Sakura smiled sweetly at Liyenn. Liyenn continued to stare at the ground before her. She could feel that people were watching her, but she didn't bother to look up. She closed her eyes and laid back, folding her arms behind her head. She heard Sakura say something like 'Liyenn, be careful! You'll end up opening your wound!', but Liyenn only dismissed it. Naruto's jacket was warm against her skin. _I could really get use to this..._ she thought to herself, rubbing her cheek against the collar of the jacket. She grinned to herself.

"Well, I guess we should get moving." Sasuke's voice piped up. Ino and her group moved away, leaving Squad Seven alone.

"C'mon, Liyenn. We're leaving now." Sakura said, smiling down at Liyenn.

"Alright, fine." Liyenn moved to sit up, but as she did, a sharp pain in her side prevented her from moving much farther. She looked and saw that everyone had started walking away. "Um?" Liyenn started. Naruto was the only one to turn. "Could you help me up?" A small blush formed across her face. She didn't like asking for help, not for something like this. But, Naruto only smiled at her.

"Hey, guys. Wait up. Liyenn needs help." Naruto said, making the others stop. Sasuke rolled his eyes as he looked at Liyenn, and Sakura gave a small smirk. Naruto walked over the Liyenn and offered her his hand.

Liyenn smiled and reached for Naruto's hand. She was forced to stop though, as a sharp pain shot through her head for the third time in three days. She quickly pulled her hand back and used it to rub the tender spot on her head. The pain was different this time, as it felt more like a pressure build up than as if her brain was being stabbed. Within a minute, the pain was gone. Liyenn looked up when she felt that somebody was close to her. She blinked and saw Naruto's worried face was only inches away from her own. She blushed and swallowed. The last time she was this close to someone's face, they were trying to restrain themselves from hurting her.

Liyenn realized that Naruto had seen her face contort and had knelt down beside her to make sure she was ok, which only made her blush deepen. "Are you ok?" Naruto asked her. But, Liyenn's attention was on Naruto's eyes. His bright blue eyes gazed into her own. They were so full of worry. _Does he really care about me that much?_ Naruto's expression worsened when Liyenn didn't answer him. "Liyenn? Does it hurt that badly?"

Liyenn snapped out of it when Naruto's tone became even more serious. "Oh, sorry. I'm fine Naruto. Thanks for worrying." Liyenn smiled gently, raising her hand to rest it on Naruto's shoulder. Liyenn was about to pull herself up when she felt herself being lifted off the ground. She blinked and looked down. Realizing what was happening, Liyenn grabbed hold of Naruto's t-shirt, fearing she would slip and fall.

"Don't worry, Liyenn. I won't drop you." Naruto said, but he still felt Liyenn's tight grip on his shirt. He carried her towards the others, Sakura smiled widely at Liyenn and Sasuke just sighed impatiently. Naruto looked down at Liyenn in his arms. "I'm going to carry you until you think you can walk alright on your own. And don't tell me that you can walk if you really can't." Naruto stated.

Liyenn sighed. Naruto wasn't letting go of her, and that was it. She saw Sakura smiling at her from around Naruto's shoulder and stuck her tongue out at her. Liyenn grumbled a little bit. She didn't like having to have people tend to her. But... She looked up at Naruto. His eyes were looking straight ahead, but he looked down when he felt Liyenn's head rubbed against his chest.

* * *

**A/N:** End of Chapter 19. Thanks for reading this far. This probably going to the last chapter I'll write I move, just to let you all know. I'll update as soon as I get a chance, I promise. Let me know what you think, please! 


	20. Collasped

**A/N:** Here's chapter 20... finally. Thanks to you all for waiting patiently for this chapter. I'm gonna warn you all now though. I was kinda in a slump when I wrote this, so it's not my most favored chapter. But, I'll let you guys decide on what you think. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty:**

**Collapsed! Fallen During the Exams**

The days passed by, each one seemingly took forever to end. Naruto finally allowed Liyenn to walk on her own two feet and she was now wearing her own clothing rather than Naruto's. It was now the second last day of the second part of the exam. Sakura had managed to get another scroll from the Sound Genin who had attacked them two days earlier, but they were still in the need for a second scroll.

The team had came across a river and decided to try to catch some food along with getting a little rest. Sasuke came up with a plan. Naruto would get into the river and scared the fish. If the fish jumped out of the water, Sasuke would shoot them with his kunai and pin them to a nearby tree. Sakura gathered wood for a fire, and Liyenn sat and watch Naruto. She laughed as he poked his head out of the water long enough to yell at Sasuke.

Sakura made a fire pit and placed the wood into it. She ran over to the river where the rest of her team were. "Sasuke-kun?! Do you think you could start a fire?" Sakura called out.

Liyenn turned her attention away from Naruto and looked at Sakura. "I can do it." Before Sakura could object, Liyenn had dashed towards the fire pit. Without hesitation, Liyenn threw a flaming kunai into the wood. Sakura looked at what Liyenn done and smile.

"Sorry. I forgot you could do that." Sakura said as Liyenn pulled her kunai out of the pit. The boys brought the fish over, and the girls started to cook it.

Liyenn ate only one fish before she was decided she was finished. She looked at her teammates as she stood up. "I'm going to go clean up. I'll be back soon." Liyenn said, heading into some bushes.

"Alright, but don't be too long." Sasuke said, also standing up. "I'm going to see if I can find some fresh water for us to drink." With that, Sasuke turned and was gone as well.

Within twenty minutes, Kabuto had showed up, stopping Naruto and Sakura from opening their scroll. Sasuke, too, had returned shortly after. He got mad at his team for trying to break the rules and for doing something so reckless. "Alright. I think we should get moving. We don't have too much time left to pass this exam. Where's Liyenn?"

"She hasn't come back yet." Sakura answered.

"Well someone go get her. We need to get moving as soon as possible." Sasuke ordered.

"I'll go." Naruto offered. Sasuke nodded and Naruto got up to go find Liyenn.

* * *

"Ah, this is heaven." Liyenn said, staring up into the sky. When she found the prefect spot, Liyenn decided to take a short bath instead of just of cleaning up. "The cold water feels really nice." she stated to herself. _Phoenix? How long do you think I was gone for?_

'_Long enough. I think you should go back now.'_

_Yeah, your right._

Liyenn moved across the river, towards where she had left her clothing. As she stepped out of the water, she heard a rustling. She looked and saw that Naruto was coming through the bushes towards her.

Naruto walked through the bushes and saw Liyenn. He looked at her, his face turning a bright red. He then saw that she was about to scream. He panicked and moved as quickly as possible. Within a second, Naruto had his hand over Liyenn's mouth, muffling her scream. Liyenn gave him an angry look, pushing his hand away from her. "What do you think you're doing?!" she hissed.

"What am _I_ doing?! What about you? You're the one stood there naked." Naruto replied angrily.

"Were you spying on me?!"

"No, I was coming to tell you that we're ready to go. What the hell were you doing?" Naruto returned Liyenn's look with one of his own.

Liyenn gave an annoyed sigh. "I was taking a bath. I was coming back in a minute. I told you I was going to go clean up."

"Exactly, you didn't say you were taking a bath." Naruto glared at her. "What the hell were you thinking?!" Liyenn looked at Naruto and could tell that he really wanted to shake her, and was using all of his willpower to restrain himself from doing so. "I can't believe you're getting mad at me for 'peeking', when you're the one naked where anyone could see you. If you were going to take a bath, you should've brought Sakura with you."

Liyenn looked down in shame. Naruto saw her, and sighed. "Liyenn, what if I didn't come when I did? What if Sasuke, or Kabuto, walked in on ya, huh? What if someone saw you and wouldn't hesitate to try to rape you? There was nobody around to protect you." Naruto pulled Liyenn into a hug. Liyenn's eyes widened when she felt Naruto hand wrap around her waist. "I don't want you getting hurt, Liyenn. Please don't do anything stupid."

Naruto took his jacket off, and held it out to Liyenn. "Take it." Liyenn gave him a confused look. "Take it, and put it on. Keep it on until you get dress." Liyenn took the jacket from him, and Naruto left. He was grumbling something to himself as he walked away.

Naruto appeared on the other side of the bushes by himself. Sakura looked at Naruto and saw that he wasn't in a good mood at the moment. "Naruto, what happened?" Naruto muttered something about women before taking a seat between Sasuke and Kabuto.

"Sakura, could you go check on Liyenn? She needs another girl with her." Naruto stated. He then returned to his grumbling. Sasuke and Sakura exchanged disturbed looks. Sakura got up and headed in the direction that Naruto came from.

When Sakura went through the bushes, Sakura saw Liyenn standing by the river's edge. Her expression was a sad one and she was staring into the water. "Liyenn?" Sakura called gently. Liyenn turned to face Sakura. Sakura saw that, in under Naruto's jacket, Liyenn was completely naked. "Ah, Liyenn? What happened?"

Liyenn turned away, she gazed into the water. "He got mad at me." Liyenn said, quietly. Sakura had to perk up so she could hear Liyenn.

"Who got mad at you? What for?" Sakura asked, walking a little closer to Liyenn.

"Naruto..." Liyenn said, still looking away from Sakura. Sakura gasped. It's not like Naruto to get mad at anyone besides Sasuke, and that was only because they were rivals. Sakura remembered when Naruto returned to them. He was angry looking, and he didn't answer her when she asked him what was wrong. "He said... he said I should've brought you with me. He said he was afraid someone would try to rape me if they seen me."

Sakura gave a soft smile. "I think he was just worried about you, Liyenn. But, I think he was right in saying that I should've went with you. At least, that way, if someone did try to attack you, I would've been there to help you." Liyenn looked at Sakura. "Come on. Sasuke-kun's waiting for us."

Five minutes later, Sakura and Liyenn emerged from the bushes. Naruto looked up as the two girls got closer. His cheeks flushed when he remembered what he saw not even ten minutes earlier. His eyes were glued to Liyenn. She was beautiful when she stood there, but the moment was ruined when he realized what kind of danger Liyenn was in. He sighed angrily and torn his eyes away from Liyenn.

Liyenn saw Naruto sigh angrily at her and stopped in her tracks. She looked down sadly, her hands clutching his jacket tightly. Sasuke glanced up and saw that Sakura and Liyenn had returned. "Alright. Now that you're all clean, I guess we could go." Sasuke directed his speech to Liyenn and she could tell that he was annoyed with her. She closed her eyes, her body started to tremble. "Come on, let's go." she heard Sasuke say. Liyenn opened her eyes to see that everyone else had already started moving.

Liyenn started walking behind them, her eyes stuck to the ground. Her hair hung in front of her face, hiding it from everyone around. Sakura glanced back at Liyenn and noticed that she was a nice ways behind. Sakura gave a worried look when she saw that Liyenn had her face hidden from them. Sakura turned back and looked at Naruto. He hadn't looked back once since they started walking, and he didn't even wait for Liyenn. Sakura huffed. She knew that Liyenn liked Naruto, and he should've been able to see how much she was hurt because of him. Sakura walked faster to catch up to Naruto, and tapped him on the shoulder. Naruto glanced at Sakura over his shoulder. "What?" he asked.

Sakura looked taken aback by how Naruto answered her. Sakura frowned. She wanted to help Liyenn, so she was going to get to the bottom of it. "Naruto, can I speak with you?" she asked him. Naruto glanced over his shoulder again. "What happened? Between you and Liyenn."

Naruto stopped when Sakura asked this. "Why do you want to know?" Naruto didn't sound to happy about the question.

"Well, Liyenn isn't being herself at the moment, and I've got a feeling that it's because of what happened between the two of you." Sakura answered Naruto with the same tone. Naruto glanced back at Liyenn, who was moving at a snail's pace. "What did you two fight about? And, why are you still mad?"

Naruto sighed. "I guess I was just afraid that someone would try to attack her and I wouldn't be able to protect her." Naruto gave a small smile. "She looked so happy, so peaceful. But, I realized afterwards what danger she was in, just for being like that alone." Naruto sighed again. "I didn't mean to get so mad with her. I just... I just wasn't thinking straight.

"You were thinking about what could've happened instead of what had already happened." Naruto looked at Sakura. "I think you should talk to Liyenn. Tell her that you're sorry. You two have such a great friendship, I would hate to see it get ruined because of something like this." Sakura tensed when she thought of something. "Hey, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you care so much? About Liyenn." Sakura asked. She saw Naruto's cheeks turn a light shade of pink, which meant that he not only cared Liyenn, but he felt something more for her.

"Well. She's the first real friend I ever had that wasn't an adult. She never once called me a loser, or a pain, or an annoyance." Naruto stopped and turned around. He had to apologize to Liyenn and make things better between them.

Liyenn looked up when she felt someone coming towards her. She saw that it was Naruto, and she looked down again. _He probably coming to yell at me for being so slow..._ she thought, dangling her head. "Liyenn? Listen. I didn't mean to get mad at you." Naruto started as he got closer to her.

"I'm sorry." Liyenn said quietly. Naruto looked at her. He was about to place his hand in under her chin to make her look at him, but she raised her head quickly. "I promise I won't do anything stupid again! Just please! Don't be mad with me!" Liyenn pleaded. Without thinking, Liyenn reached up and pecked Naruto on the corner of his mouth. She pushed Naruto's jacket into his arms, and pushed pass him, trying to catch up to Sakura and Sasuke.

Naruto stood there, too stunned to move. Did Liyenn just kiss him?! At first, he couldn't believe it, like he was still asleep and that this was only a dream. He raised his hand to touch the spot of his skin that Liyenn's lips met. He realized that it was real when he remember how soft and warm Liyenn's lips felt against his skin.

He turned around to look at Liyenn. She was now talking to Sakura about something, but Naruto could clearly see her face. He saw that her cheeks and the bridge of her nose was a deep shade of pink. He felt his own cheeks color when he realized why Liyenn was blushing so deeply. Without warning, Kabuto, who was leading the group, stopped and turned in Naruto's direction. "Hey, Naruto! Are you coming or are you just going to stand there all day?" he called out.

Naruto's blush deepened as he frowned. He started walking again until he caught up to the girls but he still lagged behind. The group was being led towards the tower in the centre of the forest. With any luck, they would run into a desperate team and will be able to obtain the scroll they needed from them. Kabuto was right, for they got closer to the tower, they got ambushed by the Rain Genin from the beginning of the exam. Fighting for their lives, Squad Seven and Kabuto took on the onslaught of the Rain Genin's clones.

They fought until daybreak, all of them exhausted from the fight. With a little more effort, Squad Seven took out the Rain Genin, all thanks to Naruto's brilliant plan to wear them down. After defeating them, Naruto retrieved the scroll from them, discovering that it was the scroll they needed to pass the exam.

Together, the five of them took off for the tower. When they reached it, Kabuto went his separate way to be reunited with his own team. "Let's go then." Sasuke said, stepping towards the door. Sakura and Naruto nodded, and pushed the door open. The four of them walked inside.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked, looking around the little room for answers. They all noticed a big sign posted on the wall. Sakura read it and realized what it was they had to do.

"We have to open both scrolls, together." Naruto and Liyenn both looked hesitant as Naruto pulled both scrolls from his pouch. "The examiner didn't stay anything about not opening the scrolls while we're in the tower, so I don't think we need to worry." With that, Naruto handed Sakura a scroll and they opened them together. Nothing happened. "Well. I guess that worked." Sakura muttered sarcastically.

"Get away from them." Sasuke ordered, forcing the two to drop the scrolls. Liyenn raised an eyebrow, but realized why Sasuke acted the way he did when a cloud of smoke formed from the scrolls. When the smoke lifted, Iruka stood in front of them.

"I-Iruka-sensei?" Naruto shuddered. Iruka smiled. He then began his explanation of what was going on. Liyenn would've been listening if it wasn't for an excessive buzzing noise in her ears. She dug her fingers into her ears trying to make the buzzing go away. Before she knew it, the wall in front of them had disappeared. She looked around the room, trying to get a look at who had made pass the second part of the exam.

She saw Lee and his team, Kiba and his team, Kankurou, Temari, Gaara, Ino and her team, Kabuto and his team plus a group of Sound Genin. "Wow." Liyenn muttered. "Anko knew whet she was talking about when she estimated how many of us would pass this part of the exam." Liyenn commented. She glanced around the room once more and spotted the Jounin senseis, along with other Chuunin. The Hokage stood amongst them, smiling at the Genin who had made it this far.

The teams lined up in rows, waiting for the next set of instructions. Liyenn stood in the back of all the rows behind Sakura. The Hokage stepped forward and began to speak to the group of Genin. He began explaining things that nobody really understood, like the real purpose of the Chuunin Selection Exams. Liyenn tried to listen to what the Hokage was saying, but, for some reason, couldn't shake the weird buzzing noise from her skull.

Liyenn started feeling weird. She started panting, even though she wasn't moving. She could feel her face starting to burn and beads of sweat rolling off her face. _This is weird... What's wrong with me?_

'_You're running a fever, Liyenn-chan.'_ the Phoenix responded.

_A fever?_

'_Yes, Liyenn-chan. But, it's strange. You never had a fever before...'_ The Phoenix's voice trailed off, and soon, all the sounds around Liyenn seemed to mould together. She looked around her, she could barely see the people who were glancing back at her.

Lee had glanced over his shoulder to see where the heavy breathing was coming from, as did Hinata. Their eyes widened when they saw it was coming from Liyenn. "Sa...sakura..." Liyenn breathed.

Sakura turned to face Liyenn, not really paying attention. "What is it, Liyenn?" Sakura gasped when she saw Liyenn's face. Liyenn was panting even heavier now, her cheeks and the bridge of her nose were a scarlet red. "Liyenn! What's wrong?!" Sakura whispered, not really knowing how to react.

Without warning, Liyenn started to fall. Sakura caught Liyenn in her arms, falling back a little herself under Liyenn's weight. She accidentally hit Sasuke, who hissed at her. "Watch it." he warned. His expression changed though, when he saw what had just happened.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried out. Now everyone was looking their way. Kakashi ran to Sakura's aid. She was now kneeling on the floor with Liyenn rested against her. Kakashi reached down and touched Liyenn's forehead.

"I'm going to take her to the hospital. I'll be back shortly." Kakashi said, crouching so he could scoop Liyenn into his arms. He stopped when he heard Liyenn mutter something. He leaned closer to her, trying to hear what she was saying.

"Mo...mom...ma..." Liyenn muttered before passing out.

* * *

**A/N:** Oh no! What's wrong with Liyenn? Will, I guess you're just gona have to wait and find out. And, don't worry, it won't be that long of a wait. Let me know what you think, please:D 


	21. Diseased

**A/N:** Chapter 21 up. See, I told ya it wasn't going to be as long of a wait.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty One:**

**Diseased**

Liyenn opened her eyes to find herself inside a hospital room. It looked kind of familiar to her, like this was the room she visited a few days earlier. She tried to sit up, but something prevented her from moving very far. There was something attached to her nose. Liyenn lifted her hand up to figure it out, only to see that she was wearing a finger clip of some sort. There was a wire attached to it. She followed the wire with her eyes and it led her to a monitor. She squinted at the monitor, trying to figure out what it was. Her eyes widened when she saw that it was pulsing like a heart beat. She was attached to a heart monitor! But why?

Liyenn lifted her hand to her nose, still curious about the thing attached to her face. It... it was a tube. "What's this?" Liyenn murmured to herself. She started to pull on the tube, causing other tubes to come out of her nose. When Liyenn finished pulling the tube out, she lifted herself into a sitting position. As she sat up, Liyenn can feel herself losing breath and felt hersel breathing heavier. _What's wrong with me?_ Liyenn thought.

Liyenn had almost fell over but she was caught by a nurse. "Liyenn-chan!" the nurse cried. The nurse helped Liyenn lie down again and repositioned the tube in Liyenn's nose. "Please, Liyenn-chan. You have to keep your breathing tube in." the nurse said sternly.

Liyenn frowned at the nurse. She was highly confused. She remembered trying to listen to the Hokage's speak at the end of the second test of the Chuunin exam, but after that she couldn't remember anything. "What's wrong with me? Why do I need a breathing tube? Why am I attached to a heart monitor?" Liyenn demanded weakly.

The nurse hesitated. She sighed and looked at Liyenn, giving her a soft smile. "Liyenn-chan, your body is very weak. It seems that you've caught a nasty virus somewhere." the nurse explained.

"What about the Chuunin exam? What happened to me there?"

"Well, Kakashi brought you here, saying that you passed out after acting very strangely. Then he told us to check you for viruses or poisons."

"Really? Why's that?"

"When Osamu-san attacked you a few days ago, he had his weapons dipped in a strange liquid. We couldn't figure out what it was. Kakashi thinks that Osamu sliced your leg open so you would catch the virus unnoticed."

Liyenn thoughts instantly went back to when Osamu attacked her in the forest outside the village. _"It wouldn't matter if I killed you now. You'll only end up dying later anyway."_

"Oh no." Liyenn said loudly. The nurse had now left her and was speaking to another medic-nin.

"Go inform Kakashi-san that Liyenn-chan has awaken. I'm sure he would like to know that she's awake." the nurse said. The nurse turned back to Liyenn as the other ninja left. "Everything will be fine, Liyenn-chan. You're just going to have to stay here until the illness is gone."

"I should've known the signs..." Liyenn muttered.

"Pardon me? The signs?"

"My mother got sick six years ago. She had similar symptoms to the disease that I had. Random headaches, shortened temper, extremely tiredness. I can't understand why I didn't notice it before." Liyenn said sadly.

"Maybe you were too busy concentrating on the Chuunin Selection Exam to worry about your own health and safety." The nurse sighed. "The Preliminary rounds should be over soon, anyway. Those kids have been fighting almost all day."

"So, it's still the same day? I wasn't out for more than twenty four hours?" Liyenn asked, facing the nurse.

"No, Liyenn-chan. You were only out for almost eight hours. Nightfall hasn't even arrived yet."

"That's good." Liyenn said, trying to sit up a little bit.

"Liyenn-chan! Be careful! You're still too weak to move much." the nurse cried, trying to keep Liyenn from moving much.

"I only want to sit up." Liyenn pleaded.

"Fine." The nurse pushed a button on the railing of the bed and Liyenn's head started to raise until she was in a sitting position. "Is that better?" the nurse asked sweetly.

"Yeah, it is actually. Thanks." Liyenn said, giving the nurse a very weak smile.

"Alright. I'm going out to check on other patients. You call out if you need anything and someone will be there to assist you. Alright?" Liyenn nodded and the nurse moved out of the room swiftly.

"Liyenn?" came a male voice from the doorway. Liyenn turned her head to see who it was. She saw that it was her brother. "Liyenn, are you ok?" Habu asked as he ran to her bedside.

Liyenn shook her head. "There's no cure for this disease yet... Osamu-sensei was right..."

"What do you mean, Liyenn? What did he say to you?"

"He told me I was going to die soon."

Habu gasped and looked down at his little sister. He raised his hand and gently touch the younger girl's face. Tears swelled in his eyes. "This wouldn't've happened if I was here to protect you. If only I was there for you more while you were growing up. Maybe I could've saved you from a lot of pain..."

"Onii-chan. It's not your fault. It's my own." Habu looked into the eyes of his baby sister. "I went into the forest by myself. Kakashi scolded me for it afterwards." Liyenn gave a weak smile. "He's been taking care of me a lot since Momma died. He saved me from Osamu-sensei and he brought me here when I passed out at the Chuunin exam."

"That's right. You were in the Chuunin exam. How was it?" Habu asked, taking a seat beside the bed.

"It was alright. We were attacked by some snake guy." Liyenn began to uncover her body.

"Liyenn, what are you doing?"

"Showing you. The wound is still there." Liyenn uncovered enough for Habu to see her badly sown up snake bite. Habu stood and traced it with a finger.

"What did this to you?"

"A giant snake. He intended to eat me, but I landed on the fang instead. Naruto saved me before the snake could swallow me." Liyenn explained, covering herself back up as Habu sat back down.

"You must've been attacked by Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru?"

"Yes. He's a S-ranked criminal who was from Konoha. I wonder what he wanted with your team?" Habu pondered out loud.

"I don't know. I blacked out before Naruto saved me, so I don't know what happened during the battle."

"I see." Habu stood. "I've gotta go make a report to the Hokage. I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise." Liyenn nodded and Habu turned to leave. He stopped before he reached the door. "He cares about you, don't he?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Just tell Naruto I said thank you."

Habu left Liyenn feeling highly confused. Who was Habu talking about? Naruto? Kakashi? Who? Liyenn suddenly felt tired. "Phoenix? Are you trying to heal me?"

'_Yes, I am, Liyenn-chan. Or, at least reverse the damage a little bit. Am I draining too much energy from you?'_

"Yeah. I feel really tired..."

'_I'm sorry, Liyenn-chan.'_

Liyenn stared up at the ceiling. She could feel the oxygen entering and leaving her lungs. It was warm, but it gave her a weird feeling. "Momma was never put onto oxygen when she got sick..." Liyenn thought out loud. "Am I in worse shape than Momma was?" Liyenn closed her eyes, feeling a bigger wave of sleepiness consume her body. _Am I going to be alone?_

* * *

Hours passed by as Liyenn slept. Kakashi had came by after the Genin were dismissed from the Preliminaries rounds of the third exam. He was sitting in the chair by her bed, watching her. Her hand twitched, and Kakashi looked at Liyenn's face. She was stirring. She groaned as she tried to lift her head of the pillow. Liyenn opened her eyes and glanced around the room. "Kakashi?" 

"How are you feeling?" Kakashi asked her, giving her a warm smile.

"Tired." Liyenn replied. "And I need to use the washroom." Kakashi blinked and called the nurse.

"What can I do for you, Liyenn-chan?" the nurse asked.

"I need to use the washroom." Liyenn told the nurse. The nurse moved to Liyenn's side and helped her up. With the nurse's help, Liyenn made it to the washroom and back fine. When she was back in bed, Liyenn turned to Kakashi. "Where's Naruto and the others? Did they do alright in the Preliminary round?"

"Sasuke and Naruto both won their matches, and Sakura tied with her opponent, causing them to both lose."

"That's too bad. I'm glad Naruto and Sasuke did well." Liyenn gave a smile. "Who were they against?"

"Sasuke faced an older Genin from Leaf, Naruto faced off against Kiba and Sakura was up against Ino."

"Interesting." Liyenn said. She slowly closed her eyes and opened them again. "Where's Naruto anyway?"

"Actually. I don't know where Naruto is. He's suppose to start new training tomorrow under one of the special sensei that teaches people under the instruction of the Hokage." Kakashi explained. "He's probably home getting ready for it."

Liyenn looked away sadly. "I see. So, he won't be able to come see me?" Liyenn asked, catching Kakashi off guard.

"Well, I'm sure he'll try to come see you whenever he can, Liyenn. But you must understand, if he's going to be training he won't be able to be by your side all the time. Why do you want him anyway?"

"He's my best friend." Liyenn's cheeks began to burn. She could feel her lungs burning too. She cried, and Kakashi jumped to her aid. Liyenn quickly pulled the tubes out of her nose, feeling that they were causing the burning in her lungs. Her face expressed pain as tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"What's wrong, Liyenn?!"

"My lungs... they burn..." Liyenn cried. The nurses were summoned. They had never seen anything like it before in all of their years of medical research. They placed a cold cloth upon Liyenn's forehead and hit one of Liyenn's pressure points, causing her to fall asleep. They went to work on Liyenn's body and discovered just how bad the damage was.

The girl's lungs were bringing up from the inside, which would cause her lungs to burn from extra use of the organ. "This is bad." one nurse commented.

"Why? Can't you reverse it?" Kakashi asked.

"It's impossible to work with. We need a sample of her mother's blood." the nurse said. "Too bad we don't even know where to look." Kakashi got up and left before any of the nurses could question him.

Kakashi walked down the streets of Konoha. He was planning on visiting the Hokage to see if there was a way of getting the blood sample from the Hidden Forest Village. He happened to pass by Ichiraku Ramen when he heard a couple of familiar voices coming from the stand.

"That's right, Iruka-sensei! I beat Kiba in the Chuunin Selection Exams!"

"I'm so proud of you, Naruto. You're really improving."

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked, approaching the stand.

"Kakashi, what a surprise! I heard that Naruto had made it into the third exam, so I thought I'd treat him to ramen." Iruka said with a smile. The smile was gone though when he noticed that Kakashi wasn't smiling back. "What's wrong?"

"I have to speak to the Hokage and then find Kohaku." Kakashi answered.

"What's going on?"

"I have to get a sample of blood that could only be found in one place. And I need Kohaku's help to get there." Naruto frowned and Kakashi turned to him. "I thought you were suppose to be getting ready for your new training sessions tomorrow?" Kakashi asked. He sounded a little angry.

"I was, but Iruka-sensei dropped by and wanted to take me out for ramen."

"Hold on, Kakashi. Why do you need Kohaku's help? Can't you handle it yourself? What blood sample do you need?"

"I need to get a blood sample from Kenshin-sensei's deceased wife." Iruka and Naruto both gasped. Kakashi glared at Naruto, thinking about the conversation he had with Liyenn. _"So, he won't be able to come see me?"_

"What do you need that for?"

"The medics want the sample so they can come up with a cure for Liyenn." Naruto looked up at Kakashi, guilt and shock filled him. "She's not doing very well. The medics can't even get a good sample of blood from her. Just a minute ago, she was crying because her lungs were burning."

"Burn...ing?" Naruto swallowed.

"Yes, burning." Kakashi sighed. "I have to go. I have to get permission from Hokage-sama to drag Kohaku away from the village for a couple of days." Kakashi left the guilty Naruto staring into his half eaten ramen.

"What's wrong, Naruto?"

"I was going to go see her when you came for me." Naruto confessed, not looking up from his bowl. "I didn't want to seem rude and reject the offer, considering I always go when you offer."

"Do you still want to see her?" Iruka asked. Naruto gave a slight nod, and Iruka smiled. "Naruto, I'm not going to keep you from someone who's important to you. Go on, I completely understand."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks, Iruka-sensei. You're the best!"

Naruto ran all the way to the hospital. All the way there, he thought about Liyenn and how Kakashi had looked at him when he saw Naruto sitting with Iruka at the ramen stand. _Maybe Kakashi-sensei's mad at me for not visiting Liyenn..._ It was dark already, so if Naruto wanted to see Liyenn, he would have to sneak around all the nurses.

He used the _henge_ technique to sneak into the hospital as a medic-ninja. He began searching the rooms as soon as he entered the hospital. In one room, he saw Hinata, and in another, he saw Lee. He made a mental note to visit them later on if he had time. Right now, he had to find Liyenn's room. He searched a little bit longer before coming across a slightly opened door. He peered inside.

Liyenn laid there in her bed, asleep. Naruto opened the door long enough to sneak in and closed it behind him. After he got closer to Liyenn's bed, he dropped the _henge_, and watched Liyenn for a little bit. He smiled at Liyenn as she slept peacefully. He reached over and brushed a few strands of hairs out of her face. As he did this, Liyenn stirred. Liyenn opened her eyes and was surprised to see Naruto was standing there instead of Kakashi. "Naruto?" she whispered.

"Yeah. Sorry I didn't come earlier. I had some things to do. But I couldn't go without coming to visit you tonight, so here I am." he explained. He smiled softly at her. "I heard you had quite the fever earlier today. How are you feeling now?"

"I'm still tired, and I can barely lift my head off the pillow. But, I'm better now that you're here with me." Naruto blushed at her words. "I heard you were getting a new sensei."

"Yeah..." Naruto was still blushing. "Are you really that happy to see me?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Liyenn gave a weak smile. "I heard you beat Kiba in the Preliminary rounds."

"Yeah, I did. You should've seen it! I was so great, just like I knew I was!" Naruto smiled and readjusted her hitai-ate. Liyenn smiled too.

"I wish I was there to see it. I'm so proud of you." Liyenn smiled as widely as she could. Suddenly, a faint blush formed across the bridge of her nose. "Um, Naruto?"

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I, um... I need to use the washroom..." Liyenn shuddered. Naruto blinked and started to proceed calling the nurse. "No!" Liyenn cried weakly.

"What?"

"If the nurse comes and catches you here, she'd kick you out." Liyenn's blushed deepened a little bit and Naruto turned a bright shade of red.

"You mean... you want _me_ to help you to the washroom?" Naruto was a little stunned by this request. Liyenn nodded slightly and Naruto gulped. "Well, I don't know if I should do that. Won't it seem kind of... perverted?"

"Maybe..." Liyenn looked away. She sighed and turned back to him. "Well you still help me? I mean, you have seen me naked... even if it was an accident."

"Yeah, don't remind me."

"Please, Naruto?"

Naruto sighed. "Fine. What do I need to do?" Liyenn started pulling the tubes from her nose. "Hey. What are you doing? You need those."

"I can't take them to the washroom, silly." Liyenn smiled and pulled the remainder of the tubes from her nose. She started to try to sit up. She pulled the blankets off of her, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She could slowly feel her breath escaping her. With a shaky hand, Liyenn removed the clip on her finger that connected her to the heart monitor. Naruto watched as Liyenn forced herself to stand, her short, pale green nightdress covering her upper body neatly.

Liyenn began to sway in her place. She was forced to sit back down so she could catch her breath. "Are you alright, Liyenn?"

Liyenn looked up and saw Naruto's worried face staring down at her. "I'll be ok. Could you help me walk over to the washroom?" Naruto nodded. He wrapped his arm around Liyenn's waist and led her to the washroom, just like she had requested. When she had finished, Naruto led her back to her bed, where she laid down and replaced all of her wiring. "Thank you, Naruto." she said once she was all situated.

"No problem." Naruto looked at the clock over by the door. It read 11:30pm. "I guess I should be going. Before I get caught."

"Will you come back tomorrow?"

Naruto gazed deeply into Liyenn's eyes. He could feel his heart pound in his chest as she gave him a pleading look. He smiled at her. "Of course I will. Promise." Naruto stated. Naruto then left the room quickly before the nurses noticed his presence. He decided to stick around though, as he watched Liyenn for a little bit from outside her window.

'_You love the girl, don't you?'_

"What was that?" Naruto asked, frantically searching around for the voice.

'_You stupid brat. Won't even admit your own feelings for someone.'_

"Who's there?!" Naruto demanded.

'_Although, she would make the perfect mate for you...'_ Naruto heard the voice snicker at him.

"I don't get it. Who am I hearing?" Naruto thought about what the voice had said, though, about the mate. _Was he talking about Liyenn?_

'_Who else would I be talking about?'_ the voice growled.

_Sorry... whoever you are._

'_You've got a lot to learn...'_

_Wait... it couldn't be..._

* * *

**A/N:** End of chapter 21. Let me know what ya think, please?_  
_


	22. Sakura and Ino

**A/N:** Here's chapter 22 for all of my faithful readers. Thank you to actionliker, EroEro-Kitsune, Princesa de la Luna, and Panterra for reviewing. It really means a lot. I hope you like this chapter!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two:**

**Sakura and Ino**

Naruto woke up the next morning, sitting in a tree just outside of the hospital. He gazed around groggily, rubbing his eyes to get the sleep out. "I must fell asleep while watching Liyenn..." he muttered to himself. He looked in through the window and saw that Liyenn was still asleep. Naruto smiled to himself. He jumped down onto to the window ledge to check the time. Nearly 10am.

Naruto jumped off the ledge and onto the ground beneath him. Today he was starting a new training session with a new sensei. By rights, he should be meeting his new sensei in a half hour, but he decided to take his time. He walked back to his apartment, ate, and cleaned up before leaving to meet the sensei. His thoughts drafted back to the night before.

* * *

_-Flashback-_

_Wait... it couldn't be..._

'_That's right kid. You're finally getting to talk to me.'_

_What do you mean she would be the perfect mate for me?_

'_Isn't it obvious? You're in love with the girl. And, she's a lot better than the stupid monster, Sakura.'_

_Watch what you're saying! You're the monster, not her!_

'_I don't understand you humans.'_

_What do you mean?_

'_When an animal sees something it wants, it goes after it no matter the chance of failure. But when a human wants something, they get scare and hide their desires or needs.'_

_Meaning?_

'_I know that you want that girl. Which is why you're so possessive of her. That's why you couldn't bare to think of her with someone else.'_

_Kiba..._

'_And it'll be the same way for every guy she meets if you don't confess to her. But, if you're too scared to do something like that, then maybe Liyenn is better off with some older, stronger shinobi.'_

_Don't say shit like that!_

'_Ooo, are you getting mad with me, human?'_

* * *

The fox had continued to torment Naruto until he fell asleep. Naruto looked up into the sky as he thought about Liyenn. "I _do_ love her. But... does she love me?"

* * *

Liyenn awoke one day, as usually. It had been almost three weeks since she was hospitalized. Kakashi came to see her every few days after he got home from the Hidden Forest Village with Habu, and Naruto came to see her every night when he was complete his training for the day.

Liyenn slowly turned her head and saw that the nurse had brought food for her. She was about to reach for it when someone knocked on her door. "Liyenn-chan? Can we come in? You have some visitors." The nurse walked into Liyenn's room, followed by Sakura and Ino.

"Sakura? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I originally came to see Sasuke-kun, along with Lee. But, Sasuke-kun had disappeared, and Lee was too wore out. I remembered that I hadn't come to see you since you were in the hospital. How are you feeling?"

"Alright, I guess." Liyenn shrugged. "So, Sasuke disappeared, huh?"

"Yeah. He's still too weak to be out and about." Sakura complained.

"At least he can get out of bed on his own." Sakura looked at Liyenn with sad eyes. It was really scary when Liyenn collapsed at the Chuunin exam. Liyenn looked at Sakura with a casual look. "How were the Chuunin exams?"

"What? Oh, yeah. I failed my part. I was fighting Ino in the Preliminary rounds of the third exam. We ended it in a draw."

"Kakashi told me. I'm glad that you gave it your all." Liyenn said, giving a weak smile.

Ino stared at Liyenn. This was new for Ino. To see someone who so easily tormented her confound to a bed. "It must've been all talk." she muttered.

"What?" Sakura turned to face Ino, kind of shocked at the comment that Ino had just made.

"The way Liyenn use to torment me about Sasuke-kun. She's really not that strong after all. I mean, she didn't even make it pass the second part of the Chuunin exam." Ino smirked.

"She collapsed, Ino-pig! How could you be so cruel?!" Sakura yelled.

Liyenn looked away for a moment. She saw the nurse walking by her door, and realized that she needed to use the washroom. "Excuse me, nurse?"

"Yes, Liyenn-chan?"

"Could you help me?"

"Of course." Sakura watched as Liyenn pulled the blankets off of herself. She began pulling the tubes away from her nose. Sakura gasped when she heard Liyenn's wheezing breath. With a shaky hand, Liyenn pulled the clip off her finger that connected her to the heart monitor. She gently swung her legs over the edge of the bed and began to sit up. With the nurse's help, Liyenn managed to get to the washroom and back without draining too much energy. Liyenn laid back in bed. "Are you comfortable, Liyenn-chan?" the nurse asked. Liyenn nodded, and the nurse smiled. "Good. You rest up now, and I'll bring you some supper."

"Kay. Thank you." The nurse gave a small nod and left the room. Liyenn looked up at Sakura and saw that her eyes were glassed over.

"Liyenn... What's wrong with you?"

Liyenn sighed. "Do you remember the disease my mother had?" Liyenn asked, staring at the ceiling.

"Of course. Yokomo-san was very sick and looked the part too. How could I forget?"

"Do you remember the day when I never showed up from my hike? When I was attacked and placed in the hospital for the night? Kakashi lied to you and the others about it."

"Yeah, I remember that. You had us worried sick about you."

Liyenn gave a small smirk. "The truth is Sakura, Osamu-sensei planted the same disease inside of me as he planted in my mother." Sakura gasped a 'No!'. "I'm afraid so, Sakura."

"Wait? Osamu-sensei? Who's he? And, what's this disease?" Ino asked, who was completely out of the loop. "And when did you meet Liyenn's mother, Sakura? I thought she was an orphan?"

"She is now. Listen, I'll explain later." Sakura looked at Liyenn and then to the flower she still had in her hand. She sighed. Sakura was about to ask Liyenn if she had seen Naruto lately when she noticed Liyenn's face turning a deep shade of red. "Liyenn? What's wrong?" Sakura asked with a worried expression on her face.

Liyenn's body started to twitch everywhere. She was breathing heavily and sweat was starting to run down her face. "It... burns..." Liyenn murmured, tears starting to flow from her eyes. Without warning, Liyenn reached up and ripped the tubes from her nose.

"Liyenn?!" Sakura cried. She turned to Ino. "Ino, go get the nurse!" Sakura demanded.

"Why do I have to go get the -"

"INO!"

"Right." Ino dashed out into the hallway, looking for the closest nurse. She saw one and ran to him. "Nurse. Please, something's happening to Liyenn."

"What?!" The nurse ran towards Liyenn's room, followed by Ino who was followed by other nurses.

A female nurse stepped forward. She turned to Sakura after glancing at Liyenn. "Girl, go get me a cold, damp face cloth." she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!" Sakura obeyed. She ran off quickly to the washroom, retrieving a face cloth and placing it under cold, running water.

The nurse turned to Ino. "You there! I want you to hold down her legs."

"What?"

The nurse waiting a moment before becoming angry. "Well, don't just stand there looking like an idiot! Go hold down Liyenn-chan's legs!" the nurse barked.

"Right away, ma'am." Ino answered as she ran to Liyenn's legs and held them down. Ino found it difficult, though, as Liyenn's body was moving fiercely as if it was trying to escape from something.

Sakura had returned with the cold cloth. She handed it the nurse. "Thank you." The nurse turned her undivided attention to Liyenn. "Listen to me, Liyenn-chan. Everything's going to be ok. We're not going to hurt you."

"It... burns..." Liyenn whimpered for the millionth time. Sakura watched in terror as her female companion turned a pale, pale white. The nurse gently placed the cloth upon Liyenn's forehead and hit a place on Liyenn's neck with a needle felled with a pale green liquid. The liquid slowly leaked it's way into Liyenn's blood stream, causing her to pass out. Sakura gasped as she watched her friend black out.

The nurse turned to Sakura and Ino. "We're sorry you had to witness that. It's been happening at least twice a week. We never seen anything like it ever before."

"What happened to her just now?" Ino asked, beating Sakura to the punch.

"It's her lungs fighting against her. We're not even sure of what's causing it. But, we do know that she has a new species of virus living in her system now. Kakashi-san tells us that it was probably placed there by her attacker a month ago." the nurse explained. She glanced down at the now sleeping Liyenn. "I'll give you a few more minutes with her, but you must leave her alone to rest. Do you understand?" Both Sakura and Ino nodded and the nurse left.

"So, what exactly is going on with her?" Ino asked, turning to the very frightened Sakura.

"I'm not sure, myself, but I do know she's really sick. Her mother had the same disease for six years and probably wouldn't've lasted much longer if she wasn't killed."

"They'll found a cure, though. Right?"

Sakura shook her head sadly. "The medic-ninjas in Liyenn's village have been trying to come up with a cure for the entire time Yokomo-san was sick, and they came up with nothing. I really don't think there is one... since this disease is so new."

"What are you saying, Sakura?" Ino gasped. She realized what Sakura was saying, but had to hear it to make sure she was right.

"I'm saying that Liyenn's going to die." Sakura answered bluntly, tears streaming down her face. She sat in the chair beside Liyenn's bed, rested the flower on Liyenn's chest, and began to sob into Liyenn's stomach. "I'm sorry, Liyenn! I should've been there for you more! Maybe... maybe if I went with you that day, this wouldn't've happened! I was too caught up with an impossible dream to realize that you were a true friend! I was too concern about what Sasuke thought!"

Ino stepped back, giving Sakura space. It shocked her to hear Sakura refer to Sasuke without the '-kun' attached. "Sakura..." she muttered.

Sakura looked at the daffodil she had rested on Liyenn's chest. "Sasuke-kun probably wouldn't've even looked at that flower if I gave it to him." Sakura thought out loud. She gave a soft smile and picked the flower up.

"What are you planning to do with it?" Ino asked.

"I'm gonna leave it here. For someone who I know is going to appreciate it." Sakura grabbed the extra glass off of the table with Liyenn's food atop it. She filled the glass with cold water and placed the plant inside. "There." she stated, placing the glass back on Liyenn's table. Sakura turned to Ino. "C'mon. Let's go now. Liyenn needs her rest."

"Right." Ino agreed, turning towards the door.

Sakura started walking towards the doorway, but stopped and turned to face Liyenn. "You better get better, Liyenn. And not only for your sake. I know of someone who would be devastated if something bad would to happen to you." Sakura told the sleeping Liyenn, and a small tear trickled down her pale skin.

"Who?" Ino asked as she and Sakura left the room. "Who would be devastated if something bad would happen to Liyenn?"

Sakura shook her head. "Never mind. It's something I figured out while hanging out with her."

"You don't mean Sasuke-kun, do you?" Ino asked, sounding angry and a little jealous.

Sakura sighed in disgust. "I can't believe you would drag Sasuke-kun into this." Ino gazed at Sakura. "I'm talking about Naruto." Sakura answered bluntly.

"Naruto? Devastated? I don't thin so, Sakura. Nothing seems to destroy Naruto's spirit."

"Are you really that much of an idiot or are you trying to play stupid?" Sakura asked angrily, making Ino flush a bright shade of pink. "You saw how he looked at her in the Forest of Death. You also saw his face when Liyenn collapsed. He cares about her more than he's letting on, maybe even to himself."

Ino looked down. "Yeah. I did see it. It kinda made me jealous."

"What do you mean?"

"How Liyenn can get that look so easily, while Sasuke-kun won't even look our way."

"Yeah, well..." Sakura stared at the ground in front of her. She saw a shadow of a taller man and looked up. It was Habu, Liyenn's brother. "Habu-san. Are you going to visit Liyenn?"

Habu stopped when Sakura spoke to him. "Yeah, I am. I haven't been able to visit her like I want to since Hokage-sama has me supervising the medics on creating a cure for Liyenn."

"Habu-san, I really don't think she going to make it." Sakura confessed. Ino kind of looked shocked, while Habu looked down, somewhat agreeing with what Sakura was saying. "I know it's gonna be hard on you, Habu-san."

"You have no idea." Habu looked away from the two girls in front of him. "After all this time, I'm going to lose her." He sighed and looked back at Sakura. "I'm assuming that's where the two of you just came from." Both girls nodded in reply. "How was she?"

"She had an attack. The nurses had to knock her out." Sakura explained.

"I see." Habu started walking again.

"Wait, they probably won't let you in since she needs her rest." Ino warned.

"She's my little sister. I'm the only family that girl's got left. If they won't let me see her, then they have no values, what so ever." Habu stated, not even stopping to face them. Ino and Sakura watched until Habu was out of sight.

"So that was Liyenn's brother, eh?" Ino asked.

"Yeah. He's friends with Kakashi-sensei."

"So, are you going to explain anything to me, or what?" Ino asked.

"What do you mean?"

"About this Osamu guy and Liyenn's mom."

"Not right now, I don't think. Maybe some other time... after I got over it." Ino nodded, understanding what Sakura meant.

* * *

**A/N:** End of chapter 22. What did you think? Thanks for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed it! 


	23. Don't Leave

**A/N:** Here's chapter 23. Fast, huh? Thanks to Ero-Ero-Kitsune and Princesa de la Luna for reviewing. I hope you enjoy this chapter!! And, I'm telling you, I've been think about this chapter for a really long time. I'm glad I finally got it typed and posted.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three:**

**Don't Leave...**

A few days had pass since Sakura and Ino had visited Liyenn at the hospital. Naruto had came to see her earlier this day. He knocked on the door before entering and was carrying a white rose and a small bowl of ramen. "Naruto?" Liyenn said, sounding really and honestly surprised.

"Hey. I brought you a little something." Naruto grinned and placed the bowl of ramen on her lap and handed her the rose. "It's a 'Get Well Soon' gift."

Liyenn gave him a weak, but happy smile. "Thank you, Naruto. That's sweet of you to do. It really means a lot." she said, as she opened the reman. She drooled a little bit from the smell. She hadn't had any ramen since the Chuunin exams started and was getting sick of hospital food. "So, what brings you here so early?" Liyenn asked, opening the chopsticks Naruto had brought with him.

Naruto rubbed his cheek with his finger. "Well, Ero-Sennin got me into this really weird training program." Naruto started.

"So, you're only here because of training?" Liyenn asked, looking away.

"No, it's not like that!" Naruto cried, waving his hands like a manic. _Oh man that came out wrong..._ "Liyenn, you know I would come to see you if I wasn't training. But, Ero-Sennin's teaching how to call upon a new kind of chakra and summoning, and stuff like that. It's taking a lot out of me, you know." Nauro explained, trying not to make Liyenn anger with him.

"Summoning? New chakra?" Liyenn looked puzzled as she slurped her noodles. "Are you learning any new attacks?"

"Well, I guess you could say that. If I summon this frog, I could learn attack with it. Apparently, I have to summon it like my life is on the line." Naruto frowned. "Ero-Sennin's having me have everything I want to do, like I'm going to die or something."

"This 'Ero-Sennin'? Who exactly is he?"

"I... don't really know. He showed up and took out Ebisu with one attack. So, I asked him to train me. And, I've improved." Naruto said, smiling.

"That's good."

"Naruto! Let's go already!" came a male's voice from the hallway.

"Hold on a sec, Ero-Sennin! Can't you see I'm in the middle of something." Naruto yelled back. Liyenn squinted her eyes when he yelled. Naruto noticed and instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry, Liyenn. Was that too loud for you?" Naruto asked.

"Kinda." Liyenn said. "So, you're going now?"

"Yeah." Naruto stood, but looked down at Liyenn. "Um, Liyenn?"

"Yeah, Naruto?"

"Could I ask a favour from you?" Naruto asked, turning slightly pink.

"Depends on what it is. I can't really get anything for you unless it's in arms reach." Liyenn answered, giving a small chuckle.

Naruto gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, well." He pulled on the collar of his jacket a little bit. "I was wondering if you could stand. Just for a moment."

Liyenn blinked, but slowly started to stand. "Is... this... good... enough...?" Liyenn panted.

Naruto looked at her nervously. "Yeah, but take it easy." He moved towards her and put his arms around her waist. Liyenn's eyes widened for a moment, as she was a little shocked by what he was doing. She slowly raised her own arms up and gripped the back of jacket, returning the hug.

After they released, Naruto helped Liyenn back into bed. "You wanted the hug, didn't you?" Liyenn asked, a smiled pulled at her lips. Naruto blushed, and Liyenn gave a light giggle. "You don't have to be nervous about giving me a hug, Naurto. I won't hurt you." Naruto turned to leave. "Will you be back tonight?" Liyenn called to him weakly.

Naruto turned back to Liyenn and smiled softly. "Of course." With that he left.

* * *

Liyenn waited that night for hours, but Naruto didn't show up. She kept getting this really bad feeling that something went terribly wrong and that something bad had happened to him. "Why am I so worried?"

'_Maybe it's because he promised to be here and didn't show up. We both know it's not like Naruto-kun to break a promise.'_ the Phoenix responded. The Phoenix sighed from within. _'Liyenn-chan, it's late. You should get some rest. He'll come tomorrow and explain why he didn't show up. I know he will.'_

_You're right, Phoenix. Besides, I am really tired._

'_Plus, you've lost your appetite. You only ate half of the reman that Naruto-kun brought for you. And it was only enough for one mouth.'_

_Phoenix?_

'_Yes, Liyenn-chan?'_

_I'm going to die, aren't I?_

'_I cannot say.'_

_I can feel it, Phoenix. My life energy is fading too quickly. And, I'm going to be alone..._

'_Liyenn-chan...'_

* * *

Liyenn never woke up anymore until nearly suppertime the next day. She squinted her eyes and thought about the night before. She realized how close death was to her. She sighed. She called out weakly for a nurse to come to help her go to the washroom. No one came. "Ok, either no one heard me or they're all busy." Liyenn thought out loud. "I guess I'm gonna have to help myself." Liyenn unhooked herself from all of her wires and proceeded to the washroom, only to fall the floor after taking a few steps.

* * *

In the hallway of the hospital, Kankurou stood waiting for Temari, who was checking on Gaara, to come back from Gaara's room. He was walking pass an opened door when he heard loud thud from inside. He stopped, curious about the noise, and peeked through the opened door. Inside on the floor, crouched a navy haired girl. She was breathing heavily. She looked like she shouldn't even be moving. Kankurou was actually feeling pity for the girl until she looked up.

Kankurou recognized the girl to be Liyenn, the girl who mocked them about his puppets. He half considered leaving when he saw her make a move. Liyenn slowly lifted herself up off the floor and continued towards the washroom. She entered it, her body trembling more and more as she walked. Moments later, Liyenn emerged from the washroom. She walked slowly, using the wall as support.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" someone said angrily. Kankurou turned and saw that it was the blonde runt named Naruto. Naruto gave Kankuro a scowling look. "You weren't planning on hurting her, were you?" Naruto asked in the form of a low growl. He was right in Kankurou's face.

"No. In matter of fact, I was watching her." Kankurou growled back. He straightened himself up and turned his attention back to Liyenn. "She's not doing to good, is she?"

Naruto looked down at the floor. "Liyenn's really sick. The doctors don't even know if she's gonna make it. I'm not suppose to know, but I hear them talking to her brother about a couple nights ago." Suddenly, a thud came from the room. Naruto opened the door a little farther so he could look in.

Liyenn was floor. She had managed to catch herself before her face hit. She pushed herself into a kneeling position. Without warning, Liyenn's body started to tremble. She had started to cry.

"Why can't I fight it?" Liyenn asked herself, both angrily and shakily. Kankurou could feel his heart swell. The girl was mad at herself. "I'm a shinobi. I'm suppose to be able to over come any challenge." Liyenn was sobbing now, her body started to tremble more. Kankurou couldn't help but feel sorry for Liyenn, even if she did mock him. But, what Liyenn said next caused a tear to jerk from Kankurou's eye. "I don't want to die here." she complained. "I would rather die because of Kankurou's stupid puppets or Gaara's sand than die here!" she cried, her voice shaky and weak.

Without around word spoken, Naruto was at Liyenn's side, letting her cuddled into him, trying his best to comfort her. Kankurou watched in silence as the girl he detest was carried to her bed and reconnected with her oxygen tube and heart monitor. She was truly dying in there, and he was actually broken by it.

"What's going on, little brother?" came a female voice from Kankurou's right. Temari approached Kankurou and, when he didn't answer, peered into the room to see what he was looking at. "Is that?" Temari started. She was a little shocked. Temari sighed and started heading away. "It a shame she had to end up like that. Even if I didn't like her too much." Temari stated, forcing Kankurou to follow her. Kankurou's silence unnerved Temari. She hadn't really seen him cared about much. "Are you starting to care for her, Kankurou?" Temari asked, startling Kankuro.

"No, not really. But, if you heard what she said in there, you would feel the same way." Kankurou answered quietly. He gaze was on the floor.

"What did she say? It must've been very touching if it got you."

Kankuro sighed before answering Temari. "She said she would rather die because of Gaara's sand or because of my puppets than die in the hospital."

"She really said that?!" Temari looked shocked. Not many people rathered a fate like that one. Gaara killed without mercy, and sometimes without thinking. "I'm actually surprised that Gaara didn't kill her that time with she ran into him. You know what Gaara's like." Temari said.

"Yeah, I know. She was troubled that day, though." Kankuro said, frowning slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"When I was looking in her eyes. I saw a hint of fear, but I also saw that she was confused about something. I'm thinking she wasn't afraid of us, but whatever it was that was confusing her." Kankurou sighed. "She's obviously not afraid of death, but I think she would rather die fighting than because of some disease." Kankurou concluded. He looked up and saw Gaara coming towards them. He looked impatience and angry. Kankurou sighed. The three left the hospital without speaking a word to each other.

* * *

Naruto carried Liyenn to her bed. He reconnected the tubes for her, and then sat on the bed beside her. "Where were you last night?" Liyenn asked after she stopped crying.

"I passed out from the training exercise. Apparently it took more out of me than I thought it would." He smiled down at Liyenn. "What were you doing out of bed by yourself, anyway?"

"I had to use the washroom and nobody answered my call." Liyenn explained.

"I see. I think I know why."

"Really?"

"Yeah. That Gaara guy was trying to finish off Bushy-brow, but I helped stopped him. The nurses were probably busy making sure Lee's protected."

"Oh..."

"Hey, how do you know about Gaara's sand? You weren't there when he used it."

"Kakashi told me about it. Told me about what the feeling he got from it." Liyenn answered. The two sat and talked about anything and everything. After time, Liyenn's eyes started drooping and, eventually, she closed them, indicating that she needed rest. Naruto smiled down at her. He gently caress her face with his finger tips and stood to leave. He stopped, though, when he felt a loose grip around his wrist. He looked, and saw Liyenn's glistening eyes staring back at him. "Don't leave..." she whispered weakly.

"But, Liyenn. I've gotta get back to my room or else the nurses well flip." Naruto couldn't help but feel his heart twist when Liyenn gaze dropped. She released his wrist. "I'm sorry, Liyenn. Why do you want me to stay anyway?"

"I don't want to be alone..." Liyenn answered quietly. For the second time in a row, Naruto's heart did a twist. He looked at Liyenn and saw how scared she was.

"Is this your wish?" Naruto asking, taking Liyenn's hand in his. He felt her fingers curl around his hand, giving him his answer. "Well, I can't stay if you're not going to give me any room." he said, smiling softly. Liyenn looked up at Naruto to see if he was serious.

"You're staying?" Liyenn asked in disbelief.

"Of course. Now, move over." Naruto said in a joke manner. With his help, Liyenn turned to her side and Naruto crawled in under the blankets beside her. She rested her head on her pillow, atop of his arm, her forehead touching his cheek. "Are you happy?" he asked her. Liyenn nodded, raising her arm and resting it on Naruto's chest. Within seconds, Liyenn had fallen asleep. Naruto smiled when he felt Liyenn's soft breath against his neck. "There's something I need to tell you, Liyenn. But, tonight, I'll let you sleep and I'll tell you tomorrow." Naruto whispered with a smile. Something about having Liyenn beside him made him happier than ever. He was going to tell her how he felt about her, and that was final. He fell asleep shortly after, believing he had more time...

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**A/N:** End of chapter 23. What do you think? Truth is, I was planning this chapter for months. When EroEro-Kitsune asked me to do this scene, I was like, "Wow. That person read my mind." So, I hope you're all pleased with this chapter, and I hope this was what you were looking for, EroEro-Kitsune. 


	24. Confessions

**A/N:** Here's chapter 24. I have to say this, I can't thank you guys enough for all of the wonderful reviews I have gotten. It really means a lot to know that people are actually liking what I write. Thank you so much!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four:**

**Confessions**

Naruto stood in an open field. There were flowers of all sorts surrounding him and a beautiful young girl crouched before him. The girl stood, and Naruto saw that the girl was none other than Liyenn.

"Naruto-koi." she said, raising a bouquet of roses and daisies to his face for him to smell. "What do you think? Will it be enough for her room?" Liyenn smiled sweetly at him and showed him her tummy. It like some had attached a small ball to her stomach.

Naruto smiled at Liyenn. "Of course it is, my love." he said, smiling and gently glided his hand over the bulge in her stomach.

Soon, they both saw a small child running towards them, arms wide open and a smile on her face. "Mommy! Daddy!" the child cried happily as she got closer to the two. She had gotten so close that Naruto was about to lift her into his arms.

Suddenly, Liyenn cried and buckled over, grabbing her chest where her heart was. "Liyenn!" Naruto cried. The flowery field disappeared, as did the child, leaving Naruto with Liyenn in a blackened void.

Liyenn looked up to Naruto, despair all over her face. "Save me... Naruto..." she whispered before fading into the void.

"Liyenn?!" Naruto cried out when Liyenn faded from view.

"Naruto-kun..." came a female voice from somewhere in the void.

"Who's there?! What did you do to Liyenn?!" Naruto demanded, tears streaming down his face.

"Naruto-kun." Suddenly, a older looking woman appeared before him. She was wearing a red, sparkling dress, and had bright, orange hair and chocolate colored skin. "Please, Naruto-kun. You're the only one who can save her..."

"Who... who are you?" Naruto asked, staring at the woman with awe.

"Please... Naruto-kun..." The woman closed her eyes and the vision of Liyenn in the hospital shot across Naruto's eyes.

"Liyenn! Liyenn!" Naruto cried.

* * *

Naruto awoke with a start. He would've jolted into a sitting position if it wasn't for the weight on his chest. He looked to see what it was, completely forgetting where he was. He saw Liyenn had rested her head there. He moved, trying to be as gentle as possible so he wouldn't wake her. Despite his attempts though, Liyenn slipped off of Naruto and fell limply onto the bed. Naruto crawled out of bed, and Liyenn never moved. Naruto gave her a worrisome look. "Liyenn." He shook her gently. "Hey. Wake up." Naruto said, shaking her a little harder. He felt his heart drop when he realized that something was terribly wrong with her.

Naruto ran out into the hallway, searching for the nearest nurse. He saw one heading his way, carrying a tray of food. "Naruto-kun! There you are! We were worried sick about you when we discovered you were missing." the nurse scolded. But, her expression changed when she noticed Naruto's panicking face. "What's wrong?"

"It's Liyenn. She's not moving. I've got this really bad feeling. Please, you gotta come look." Naruto pleaded. The nurse gasped and dropped her tray. She nodded and followed Naruto to Liyenn's room.

The two looked at Liyenn. She hadn't moved from the position Naruto had left her in. The nurse examined Liyenn closer, opening the girl's eyes, feeling her pulse and listening to her breathing. "Oh my!" the nurse exclaimed. "She's unconscious!" The nurse ran out of the room. Moments later, she returned with a group of medic-ninjas. "I want one of you to go summon Kakashi and Kohaku. This is important to the both of them." the nurse order.

"Right away, ma'am!" one of the male medics said, saluting before he left.

The nurse turned to Naruto. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. You're going to have to wait outside until we're finished examining her. I promise that we'll let you in as soon as we're finished." the nurse said sincerely. Naruto nodded and walked to the waiting room.

An half an hour later, Naruto was greeted by Kakashi, Habu, Sakura and Sasuke. "What's going on? I saw a medic coming after Kakashi-sensei, so I followed. I figured it had something to do with Liyenn." Sakura said, running towards Naruto for answers.

Before Naruto got a chance to answer, the nurse had came to retrieve him. "Naruto-kun. We've completed our examination of her. You can go see her now if you want." Naruto nodded and the nurse turned to the others. "You all can go see her."

Naruto ran down the hallway towards Liyenn's room, closely followed by Habu and Kakashi. "Liyenn?" Naruto called quietly as he slid the door open. He looked in and saw Liyenn laying there, her body completely lifeless. Naruto walked to her side, excepting to see her eyes open. But, they didn't.

Habu was overwhelmed by the image before him. He turned to the nurse, who had followed them, and sorrow filled his eyes. "What's wrong with her?" he demanded. The nurse motioned for both Kakashi and Habu to step outside for a moment, so she could discuss the situation with them. Suddenly, there was yelling from the hallway. "What do you mean?! You should get your asses in there and fix it!" Habu demanded. His voice was shaky and everyone could tell he was crying. "She's only thirteen! She's too young!" A moment of silence. "Why? Are you giving up?!" It was then they all heard Kakashi's voice.

"Kohaku. Maybe you should go sit and calm down. You're not helping Liyenn by losing your temper." Kakashi suggested cooly, by loudly at the same time. There was another long moment silence. This time Kakashi came back into the room. He looked like he had bad news, which everyone knew he did. "Liyenn fell into a coma. The disease she has had moved to her brain steam. The doctor doesn't believe she'll come back to us."

"There's gotta be a way." Sakura started.

"There isn't, Sakura. I'm sure that if there was a way, the medics would have found it by now." Kakashi cleared his throat a little bit before continuing. It was obvious that he too was on the verge of breaking like Habu did. "The doctor said that Liyenn only has a week at the most."

Everyone gasped to this, even Sasuke. Naruto turned to Liyenn. He stroke her face gently, a tear fell from his eye. "If she dies..." Everyone looked at him. "If she dies, I'll have no one... no one I'll want to protect..." Naruto choked on his words a little bit. What he said was making Sakura cry. "I'll quite if she dies..." he finished.

"Quite?" Sasuke and Kakashi quoted.

"What's the point of having a dream if the one you want to share it with isn't around so you could share it?" Naruto asked, gripping Liyenn's hand in one of his. With his other hand, Naruto traced the line where Liyenn's face and hair met.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Sasuke muttered. "Giving it all away because of one person? One girl?"

Naruto clenched his free hand into a fist. "Shut up, Sasuke." Naruto growled. His thoughts went back to the day he fought Haku on the bridge. He was fighting for something precious. Naruto finally understood what Haku was talking about. "I understand now. What Haku kept talking about when we fought him."

Sasuke looked taken aback by this memory. Sakura, on the other hand, looked confused. "What did he talk about?"

"Protecting something that's precious to you. I was training so hard to become stronger..." Naruto looked down at Liyenn and gently rubbed her face for the thousandth time. "...I so I could protect her." Tears streamed down Sakura's face. She knew that Naruto was confessing the feelings she knew he was hiding for a while now. And knowing that there was a possibility that Liyenn will never know was breaking her heart. "If Liyenn dies, I'll have no one to protect, so training would be pointless. I'll drop out of the program." he stated.

Now Kakashi looked taken aback. He never really seen anyone break so easily. First his best friend and now his student. Not only that, but he was feeling guilty. He had made a promise to the girl's mother and failed to keep it. Not only must he deal with this guilt, Kakashi felt something more. He had taken a liking to the girl, he actually liked having her around, hearing her laugh, see her almost every day. He had started to care for the girl like she was blood to him. Now he had his feelings to deal with, along with his best friend's and student's.

* * *

A couple days had passed since Liyenn fell unconscious. Naruto only left her bed side when he needed to use the washroom. He slept in the chair beside the bed, his head rested on Liyenn's stomach. He awoke this one morning to see Habu hovering over him. "Gez, Habu, it's like you don't trust me or something." Naruto stated, rubbing his eyes.

"Sorry. I decided to come early today. Have you been here all night?"

"Yeah. I was here both nights with her." Naruto looked at Liyenn, who hadn't move from her position since she was put there. Her skin was paler now and her face was sunken in a little bit. She was starting to look more like Yokomo when he first met her.

"I know about your confession." Habu said suddenly, startling Naruto. Naruto swallowed and looked at Habu. "You're in love with my little sister, aren't you?" Naruto gave a small nod. Habu sighed. "I heard that you said you would give up your dream if she dies."

"Yeah, I did say that, and I will." Naruto stated, turning his gaze back to Liyenn.

"You don't have to do that."

"It would be pointless for me to go on."

"Really? You're only, what? Thirteen? How do you know she's the one for you?"

Naruto's eyes widened from the question. He knew exactly how he knew, as he thought back to the conversation he and the Kyuubi had the night Liyenn first took sick. But, he didn't really feel like telling him that it was because of the Kyuubi. "I just know."

Habu sighed again. "She was happy when she was with you. I could tell." he commented. Naruto looked at him. "She spoke highly of you when she talked about you, which was almost all the time." Habu smiled as he looked on the window. "I think, after knowing what you do for Liyenn, I think I would let have my sister. I think it would be the best thing for her." Habu said turning to Naruto. Naruto blushed slightly, a little shocked about this conversation he was having with Liyenn's older brother. Habu sighed for a third time. "I'm going to go get another chair. I'll be right back, ok?" Naruto nodded and Habu left. Naruto turned back to Liyenn, smiled and caressed her face with the back of his hand.

"Did you hear that Liyenn? If you live, I'll be coming after you." he teased as a tear washed down his cheek.

The day went by and, eventually, the room was filled with Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke. The nurses came in and out of the ever half an hour or so, checking on Liyenn's vital signs and what not. Naruto sat at Liyenn's side, holding her hand, trying to see if he could get any reaction from her at all by talking to her.

It was starting to get late, so Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke decided it was time to go home, even though Sasuke really wanted to go home long before then. They said goodbye to Naruto and Habu and were about to head out the door when something happened. Liyenn's heart rate suddenly went up. Naruto and Habu stood, both shocked at what was happening. "What's going on?" they both asked.

Without warning, Liyenn's body went into a seizure, her body trembling beyond control. The nurses and doctor ran into the room, as they had a machine in the heart monitor to let them know when something changed. The doctor tried to stabilize Liyenn's body, the same way he always did. Then, Liyenn's heart stopped. Everyone looked around, not really sure of what just happened. Soon, a medic had a green, electrifying chakra forming from her hands. She pushed her hands against Liyenn's chest, shocking the heart to see if it would come back to life. Nothing changed.

The medic looked up and shook her head. The doctor looked at the people around them. This was definitely hard, especially for the younger ones. Sakura had tears streaming down her face, as did Habu. Kakashi's eye had filled in tears and even Sasuke tensed from the experience, though he shed no tears.

The only one who never did anything, was Naruto. He was too shocked to do anything. Suddenly, a wave a realization washed over him, and the tears started to flow. "No..." he started. Kakashi and Sakura moved to restrain him, but it was too late. "No!" he cried, as he ran over to Liyenn's body and cradled it in his arms.

Kakashi looked down and then at Habu. They both nodded, and turned to the other two. "Come on, you guys. Let's give him a moment alone with her. He needs it." Kakashi said, walking towards the door.

The four of them left, leaving a sobbing Naruto cradling the deceased Liyenn. "Liyenn..." he sobbed. "Please don't leave me." Tears fell from his eyes and landed on her face, making it appear like she, too, was crying. With a hand, Naruto lifted Liyenn's limp hand closer to him. He looked at her knuckles and could a little white scar. He remembered the night she got that mark. It was the night he met her. Her ice blue eyes were beautiful in that night's moonlight. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, realizing that he would never see her ice blue eyes ever again.

"I never got to tell you..." Naruto started, brushing his hand through her badly matted hair. "I thought I had more time. I really didn't think you were actually going to die." He choked on his tears and kissed Liyenn's forehead. He thought back to when he saw her naked in the Forest of Death and how he got angry with her for being so reckless. He remembered how she kissed him and how soft her lips felt on his skin. Suddenly, the voice from his dream rang in his ears. _'Please, Naruto-kun! You're the only one who could save her!'_ Naruto blinked back tears.

"I never got to tell you that I love you, Liyenn." he finished, tears streaming down his cheeks faster now. "I should've told you sooner. But now I'll never know how you felt about me, and..." -he swallowed- "... you'll never know what this feels like..." he said, bringing his face closer to hers. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips against her lips. They were still warm and soft, just like the day she kissed him in the forest.

He broke away from her, and rested her back onto the bed. He felt a little relieved that he finally confessed to her, even though she would never actually know that it happened. He kissed her on the cheek and turned to leave. He was half way to the door when he heard something funny. He thought he heard Liyenn's heart monitor beating again, instead of the straight buzzing noise it was making. He turned around to continue leaving, passing it off as his imagnation. But, when the noise won't leave him he realized that it was real.. Naruto turned to face the corpse behind him, only to discover that it wasn't a corpse anymore. Gasping for air, Liyenn bolted up in her bed, glancing around the room looking extremely frightened.

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**A/N:** End of chapter 24. What did you think? Please lemme know! Thanks for reading this far, and thanks again for all of the wonderful reviews I got!! 


	25. Celebrate

**A/N:** Here's chapter 25. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five:**

**Celebrate!**

Naruto stood there, stunned at what he had just seen. Liyenn had just died, right before his eyes. Now, she was sitting up in her bed, just as if she never died at all. "Li-liyenn?" Naruto croaked.

Liyenn turned and saw Naruto's tear stained face staring at her. She pulled the tubes out of her nose before speaking. "Na-naruto?" She uncovered herself and stood. She removed the clip from her finger and stood before Naruto. She watched as tears slid down his face. Without hesitation, Liyenn ran to him. Naruto opened his arms to catch her as she buried her face into Naruto's chest. He hugged her tighted. "I never wanna feel like that again!" Liyenn sobbed.

"I don't understand. How is it you're still alive?" Naruto asked, pulling away so he could look into Liyenn's eyes.

Liyenn looked up into Naruto's blue eyes. "I don't know." She paused. "Were you with me this entire time?" she asked.

"I never left your side after you fell unconscious. I slept in a sitting position and everything." Naruto answered, pulling Liyenn into him. "You told me that you didn't want to be alone, so I never left you." he finished, clenching his arms around Liyenn's tiny body.

Liyenn smiled sweetly at Naruto. "That was really sweet of you, Naruto." She looked at him, her face sparkling from the tears she had just shed.

"So, what was like?" Naruto asked, leading Liyenn back to her bed.

"What being dead?" Naruto nodded and Liyenn looked away to think. "It was weird. I saw this weird light, and I saw... them."

"Who?"

"My parents." Naruto's eyes widened when she said this. Liyenn saw this and smiled. "Momma told me that there was still something I needed to do with my life and that it wasn't my time yet. Daddy told me about how proud he is of me. And of Habu-onii-chan." Liyenn smiled sadly. "I know that I'm not ready to join them yet. There's so much in my life I still want to do, you know what I'm saying?"

Meanwhile, Kakashi and the others waited for Naruto behind closed doors. Kakashi sighed from impatience and decided it was time to bring Naruto out of the room so that the nurses could prepare Liyenn's body for it burial. He rapped on the door softly before entering. "Naruto, come on. It's time for us to leave." Kakashi said, sliding the door open.

He froze in the doorway when he saw the scene. Habu frowned and Kakashi, wondering what was going on. He peered around Kakashi and his eyes lit up when he saw what Kakashi was staring at. "Li-liyenn?!" Habu cried, heading into the room.

"Habu-onii-chan!" Liyenn cried, running from the bed and into her brother's arms.

Tears ran down Habu's face has he held his little sister in his arms. "How is this possible?" he muttered. "I watched you die. You shouldn't be alive right now."

"I know that, Onii-chan. I think it was something Naruto said or did. I think the Phoenix used his life energy to save me." Liyenn said, turning her head to Naruto. Naruto blushed slightly. Sakura burst into the room and clung onto Liyenn.

Liyenn turned to Habu when everything settle down a little bit and decided to give him her message. "Habu-onii-chan?"

"Yes, Liyenn?"

"Momma and Daddy wanted me to tell you that they're proud of you." she said quietly.

Habu gasped and knelt to meet Liyenn's eyes. "You... you saw them?" Liyenn nodded. "They're proud of me?"

"Extremely. Oh, and Kakashi." Liyenn began, tuning to Kakashi. Kakashi looked at her, wondering what she was going to say to him. "Daddy told me that he's proud of you too. He said that you're still the brilliant student he always knew. And, Momma wanted to thank you for taking care of me."

Naruto watched as Liyenn chattered and was smothered by Habu and Sakura, and soon the nurses and doctor. He smiled a goofy smile, but he still couldn't believe it. Liyenn had die! Right in front his eyes! How was it she was still alive. He watched Liyenn, but, he noticed something was different. It was like time was going slower for everyone but him. There was a bright light, which Naruto assumed to be the powerful sunlight beaming through the window. He raised his hand to shield his eyes.

"Naruto-kun." came a female voice.

Naruto blinked and saw that the light was no longer hurting his eyes. "Hey, you're the voice from the dream I had a few of nights ago."

"That's right, Naruto-kun." the voice said, revealing herself. She was transparent, but beautiful, just the same. Her dress sparkled brilliantly in the light, and bright orange hair shimmering in the light. Naruto stared at the woman in amazement.

"Who... who are you?" Naruto shuddered, a little perplexed by what he was seeing.

"You should consider yourself lucky, Naruto-kun, for Liyenn-chan hasn't even seen me yet."

"Liyenn? You know Liyenn?"

"Of course." The woman blinked her amber eyes. "I want to thank you, Naruto-kun, for saving her."

"I... I saved her?" Naruto gasped in disbelief, pointing to himself as he spoke. "How? I didn't do anything?"

"You did something very touching today, something very selfless. You told Liyenn-chan how you felt, and when you touched her, I was able to use the love you feel for her to heal her life energy and reverse the damage the virus cause to her body." The woman smiled at the boy in front of her.

Naruto looked at the woman closely. "You healed her, using my emotions?" Naruto asked, sounding highly skeptical.

"That's right. When you're an angel, anything's possible."

"An angel?" Naruto tense when he realized what was happening to him. "The...the Phoenix? Is that who you are?"

The woman smiled and clapped her hands. "That's right, Naruto-kun. I am the spirit that lives within Liyenn-chan. I entered your dreams three nights ago to talk to you. I could tell that you were in love with my host, and I knew that I could use that love to heal her completely without draining energy from her or myself." The Phoenix beamed brightly at Naruto, but then turned serious. "I must warn you though. Liyenn-chan is completely oblivious to your confession."

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto gulped.

"I mean, she doesn't know about your confession. Meaning, you'll have to tell her again sometime. That's if you still want to be with her." The Phoenix winked at Naruto. "I will tell you this, though. You're something special to my Liyenn-chan. Treat her well, Naruto-kun, and I promise that I will not hurt you."

Naruto twitched when she said this. "Naruto? Hey, Naruto?" Naruto was hearing a voice from somewhere around him. "Liyenn to Naruto. Do you read me?" Naruto blinked and saw Liyenn was circling around him, while everyone was just staring at him.

"Liyenn?" Naruto said, blinking and then shaking his head.

"Finally." Liyenn smiled at him. "You were in a trance and I didn't think you were coming out of it." Liyenn told him. "Don't you have to get ready for the next part of the exams?" Liyenn asked him.

"Well, yeah..." Before he knew, Naruto was being pushed towards the doorway. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Giving you motivation, silly. You can't prepare for the exams here." she replied as she started walking a little faster. She pushed on him until they were out the main door. "Wow!" Liyenn exclaimed. "It's the outside world!"

"Yeah. It hasn't changed much. And you're still wearing you hospital gown." Naruto pointed out, making Liyenn blush from embarrassment and give a nervous giggle.

"Right. I forgot about that. Do you know where my clothes is?"

"They're at my place, but I don't think you should wear them just yet." Naruto said, shaking his head as he spoke.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Well, you're still recovering. I don't think you should be wearing your ninja gear until your body's ready to become that active again." Liyenn blinked. Naruto gave her a nervous chuckle. "I don't want you to become tempted to use your ninja stuff until you're fully recovered."

"Then..." Liyenn looked at the outfit she was wearing. "...what am I suppose to wear?"

"Come on. Since I'm not letting you wear your normal clothes, I'll buy you something new."

Liyenn's eyes lit up. She hadn't went shopping in Konoha yet, and this would be her first set of new clothing since in a year or more. "Really, Naruto? You would really do that for me?"

"Of course. And afterwards, you can watch me train a little bit. Maybe you could tell me what I'm doing wrong, or give me pointers or something. Then, when I beat my next opponent, I can say that you helped me." Naruto explained, leading Liyenn towards downtown. He paused for a moment and looked at Liyenn. He felt that there was something wrong. Naruto smiled when he realized what it was. He unzipped his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. "Here, Liyenn. It's so you don't get cold and so you don't feel exposed."

"Aw, thanks Naruto. That's really sweet of you." Liyenn commeted, slipping her arms through the sleeves of the jacket. The jacket covered more of her, at least, even if it wasn't by much.

They walked to the part of the village where the citizens could buy clothing and all other essential for standard living. Naruto led the way and took Liyenn to a fine little clothing store. The clothes there were cheap, but of good quality. Together, the two of them picked out the perfect outfit for Liyenn. She now wore a black, knee length skirt with a light blue tank top and a light blue, short sleeve sweater coat. Naruto looked at her as she modeled her new outfit. "What do you think, Naruto? Does it look alright?"

Naruto grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Of course it does. Everything looks good on you." Naruto blush when he said this, and it became even deeper when he saw Liyenn blush too. He thought back to when he was talking to the Phoenix. _"You'll have to tell her your feelings again sometime soon."_ Naruto smiled to himself as he thought about it. Surely he would have to tell Liyenn soon, but right now, he was going to let her celebrate being alive.

* * *

**A/N:** There was chapter 25. I hope you guys liked it. Please, let me know what you think! 


	26. The Shocking Surprise

**A/N:** Here's chapter 26 for my readers. Thanks for the amazing reviews!! You all know who you are. This story probably wouldn't be going on if it was for you guys.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six:**

**The Shocking Surprise**

Liyenn walked through the village wearing her new outfit. She was wearing it with pride, considering that Naruto gave it to her. She smiled widely as the sun beamed down on her. Beside her, Naruto walked. The two of them were heading for the training grounds. Liyenn was going to help Naruto however possible, since the next exam was only a couple days away. "So, what techniques do you think I should use?" he was asking her.

"It all depends on who your opponent is. Since I didn't see anyone at the Chuunin exam in action, I've afraid I can't help you much." Liyenn began. "I personally believe that you should indeed work with your clones. It's your strong point. Besides, if you're suppose to be using this month to develop new attacks, no one would except you to use it."

"Yeah, but, I don't know what kind of attacks to use."

"Maybe you could use the fox's chakra to make wind blades." Liyenn suggested.

"Wind blades?"

"Yeah. I've heard that the fox's chakra is wind base, meaning you should be able to use wind enforced jutsus. And, the fox's chakra is very unique, very powerful. It's the same as the Phoenix's chakra, only it's wind based. Are you following me so far?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Alright then. You know how I can make my kunai burst into flames?

"Yeah."

"I'm thinking you should try something like that."

"Huh? I don't get it."

"Remember when I said use wind blades?"

"Yeah."

"Basically, you would be doing the same as me, only your kunai will be enforced with a cutting wind. It's fairly basic, and it will help you learn how to control the fox's chakra for more basic attacks. After you master that, you can try something more complicated, like a wind shield or force field as a defense mechanism."

"I see." Naruto smiled widely at Liyenn. "Wow, Liyenn, you're really smart."

"Thanks, Naruto. But, I'm really only getting ideas from my own techniques. I'm just modifying them to fit your chakra type." Liyenn rubbed the back of her neck, a slight blush tingled her cheeks. "We should get to work as soon as possible. Considering the next exam is only a couple days away."

The remainder of the day was spent at the training field, where Naruto practiced the technique that Liyenn thought of. Before the sun began to set, Naruto had succeeded in infusing the kunai with a blunt wind covering.

Being exhausted from the day's training, Naruto was going to go straight home. Liyenn was going to follow him when Kakashi stopped them. "Hello there, Liyenn, Naruto. I see you were busy today."

"You should've seen him, Kakashi. Naruto's really improving his attacking ability and chakra control." Liyenn said, causing Naruto to blush. "I couldn't be more proud." Liyenn grinned.

Kakashi beamed at the two of them. "I'm glad to hear that. I'm sure Naruto will have some surprises for me during the next exam."

"You better believe it! I'm gonna blow everyone away!" Naruto stated. He looked at Liyenn and beamed. "And, it'll be all thanks to you, Liyenn."

Liyenn giggled a little. "I may have taught you how to do the attack, but you're the one improving it. It's your determination that's allowing you to learn it so quickly."

The two Genin continued smiling at each other. Kakashi couldn't help but feel extremely proud. But, then he remembered why he had came to find them. "Oh, Liyenn, could I speak with you. There's something I want to discuss with you."

Liyenn gave Kakashi a soft smile. "Sure." she replied. She then turned to Naruto. "I'll be at the apartment as soon as I'm done talking to Kakashi. Don't wait up for me." she told him. With that, Naruto started walking home.

Kakashi waited until Naruto was far enough away from them before he started speaking. "I see you haven't really changed much from your experience at the hospital." he commented, trying to get a conversation going.

"Why would I? I mean, I'm still living my life the way I wanted to too, so there's nothing to change. I just know now that I've got more to do with my life." Liyenn explained, causing Kakashi to smile at her. "So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well, I was thinking a lot lately. Especially this week. And, I've already talked to the Hokage to see if it was possible."

"Talked about what?"

"The truth is, Liyenn. I've taken a liking to your presence." Liyenn looked at Kakashi and suddenly felt really uncomfortable. _Is he going to ask me out?_ The thought frightened Liyenn. Kakashi was her brother's best friend, and having to hang around with them would be just too awkward. Besides, her feelings already belonged to someone else, though nobody really knew that.

Kakashi eyed Liyenn and noticed her uncomfortable look. He realized why when he thought about what he said. He, too, gave an uncomfortable look, and started waving his hands like a manic, trying to prove he was innocent. "That's not what I meant. I'm not going to ask you out or anything."

Liyenn gave a relieved sighed. "That's a relief. Will, continue." she urged.

"Well, I've come to like having you around. And I know that once the Chuunin Selection Exams are over, you'll be assigned your own team and I'll actually miss not having you around."

"And?"

"If it's alright with you, I would like to become your official guardian and adopt you." Liyenn's jaw nearly hit the ground when he dropped this on her. "I'll be able to protect you better. Of course, I'll have to get a new place since my apartment is too small, but I'm sure we could work something out. That's if you want to." Kakashi looked at Liyenn, not really knowing what kind of reaction to except.

"You mean, I'll have a father again?" Liyenn said. Her smile was gone now, and she wasn't even looking at Kakashi.

"If that's what you want from me, then yes, I'll be your father." Kakashi looked up to the sky. "I made a promise to your mother, Liyenn." Liyenn looked up at Kakashi. "I promised her I would take care of you. And I believe that this is the best way for that. It may seem a little odd coming from me, but I mean it. After taking care of you this much already, I kinda already feel like I am a father. And that you are my daughter." He turned to look at Liyenn. "I know it'll be a big change for you, and I really don't except an answer from you yet. If you want, you can sleep on it tonight. You can take as long as you need."

Liyenn was shocked, she really didn't know what to say. No one had cared for her like this before. How was she suppose to react? Sure, Kakashi was like a father to her now, but was she ready to make a jump like that? Besides, after what happened to both of her other fathers, it made her scared to accept Kakashi like that. She feared that he would get killed protecting her, just like Kenshin and Yoshi did. "I'll have to think about it, Kakashi. I really don't know what to say to this."

Kakashi didn't look surprised by this response. He knew that it was going to take time for her to accept him as a father, or even a guardian. He sighed. "I guess you should get home. I'm assuming you and Naruto are going to be training again tomorrow?" Liyenn nodded. "I guess I'll see you later then." Liyenn nodded again, and Kakashi left, leaving Liyenn looking sad and confused.

She turned and started running. She ran as fast as her legs would take her. She needed someone to talk to. She needed her best friend. Liyenn arrived at Naruto's apartment shortly afterwards. She opened the door and let herself in. She kicked off her boots and headed into the main part of the apartment. She looked around the dark apartment until she came to the bedroom. "Naruto?" she called softly.

She saw that Naruto was already in bed, gently snoring in his sleep. She walked over to him, and gently knelt down beside him. She could feel her heart aching from the fear she felt inside. "I don't want to wake you, Naruto..." she said softly, brushing strands of hair from his face. "But... I need you right now..." she whispered as two giant tears fell from her eyes.

Naruto awoke to sound of a muffled whimpering. He opened his eyes to see what it was, excepting it to be nothing more than a noise he heard in his sleep. He saw a hand clutching upon the blankets close to him. His eyes widened and began sitting up to see what was going on. "Liyenn?"

"Naruto? You're awake?" Liyenn asked, lifting her head to look at him.

Naruto saw that Liyenn was in tears, and he instantly felt that he was needed. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asked.

"I'm sorry I woke you, Naruto, but I really need someone to talk to right now." Liyenn curled up on the floor beside the bed. "Something happened tonight and I don't know how to react to it, especially with my past. I'm afraid that my past will come back and I'll be alone again."

"What do you mean? What happened? Is it about what Kakashi wanted to talk to you about?" Naruto asked, looking at her from the bed. Liyenn nodded. "What did he say to you?"

"He wants to adopt me."

"But, Liyenn. That's a great thing to happen to you." Naruto stated, feeling a little jealous, but at the same time, confused. Why should this be such a hard choice for her?

"I know it's a great thing to happen to an orphan. But, I'm afraid to say yes to his offer."

"Why's that?"

"What if it happens to him too? Everyone I considered a father before died to protect me. I don't want that happening to Kakashi too." Liyenn cried, tears flying everywhere as she raised her head quickly.

Naruto looked at Liyenn. He hated seeing her hurt and confused, but he hated seeing her cry even more. He began to lift his arms. "Come here." he said, jerking his head in his own direction. Liyenn stood and crawled into Naruto's opened arms. There, she tucked her legs in under her chin and rested her head on Naruto's chest. Naruto rested one of his hands on Liyenn's side, and, with the second hand, started stroking her long, silky hair. "I think you should go for it."

"Huh?" Liyenn moved so she could look into Naruto's eyes.

"I think you should say yes. It'll make you happy, and I'm sure that's what Kakashi wants. I really don't think he came up with this idea for himself." Liyenn looked away, still wearing her worried expression. Naruto gently took a hold of Liyenn's chin and forced her to look at him. He smiled softly. "I want you to be happy too. And I know that you will be happy after you retrieve the father figure that you've lost." His voice was so calm and gentle... it was nothing like the Naruto everyone else saw every day.

"Well, I have been thinking of him more like a father lately, even though he's my brother's age."

"See? Now all you need to do is make it final." He hugged her tightly, and she tugged her head in under his chin. "I think we should get some sleep. You're suppose to help me train again tomorrow, remember?"

Liyenn nodded and moved. She aimed for her suitcases, the ones she hadn't opened in a month. She pulled out her pjs and started getting changed there. Naruto watched her from his bed. It was dark, so she probably thought he couldn't see her. But, was she ever wrong. Naruto swallowed hard as he felt the bridge of his nose get warm. He also felt a strange warmth running away from his nose, but decided to ignore it.

Liyenn pulled out her hair tie and left it on her suitcases. She turned, and saw Naruto look away from her. "I think you've been spending too much time with this Ero-Sennin guy. You're becoming a Peeping Tom." she said, releasing a soft giggle from her throat.

Naruto blushed a scarlet red. "Yeah, well." He saw that Liyenn had approached the bed, now wearing a confused look. "What's wrong?"

"Where do I sleep?"

Naruto blinked. He was so tired from his training session, that he had forgotten that Liyenn was coming to his place that night. "I forgot you were coming..." Naruto muttered his confession. He looked away from Liyenn. "I guess it's too late now..." He swallowed and side glanced at Liyenn. To his surprise, Liyenn had already started climbing into the bed beside him. "You don't mind?"

"Well, we did do it before. I don't see the harm in one night." Liyenn said, turning her back to him. "Goodnight, Naruto." she yawned.

Naruto was about to say goodnight back when he saw a black mark on Liyenn's back. Her hair had fallen to the side and her over sized pajama shirt hung a little ways from her back, uncovering a little bit of skin. "Hey, Liyenn, what is this?" he asked, tracing the mark with his finger.

Liyenn turned and sat up. She sighed. She knew this was coming. Sooner or later, someone was going to notice her back and asked her about it. "That's one of the seals that prevents the Phoenix's wings from spreading until my body's ready for them. They become visible went my body becomes exhausted and normally when I become unconscious at any time for any given reason, such as sleep." She proceeded to lift the back of her shirt up, allowing Naruto to see the rest of her back. He gasped at all the different markings.

"What are those?"

"The one in the middle was put there after the Phoenix entered my body. It's something like a pact, saying that she's using my body or something. The mark on the bottom of my back is my village's symbol. It was put there by heating up the sixth amber crystal, and drawn there by one of the village's elders. It's infused with chakra from the crystal, which helps us get back into the village after we leave it. It was put there when I was a baby. Everyone from my village has it." Liyenn explained. She then pulled her shirt back down and laid down on her back. "The other marks are battle scars."

Naruto looked away, a little shocked by the information he had just received. He, too, laid down, facing Liyenn. He watched as she closed her eyes. He smiled, and gently stroked the older girl's face. Her cheek twitched and she faced him. She smiled softly. "Goodnight..." she whispered before drifting off to sleep.

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**A/N:** End of chapter 26. What did you think? 


	27. Parents

**A/N:** Hi there. Here's chapter 27. Sorry for the long wait for it. I was having writer's block. Personally, I think I still have it. This is kind of a weird chapter and I'll be the first to admit to it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

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**Chapter Twenty-Seven:**

**Parents**?

Liyenn awoke the next morning to find herself alone. She got out of bed and made her way to the washroom. She returned to the bedroom a moment later, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She glanced at the clock on Naruto's night stand. It read 12:00. "No way!" Liyenn exclaimed, grabbing the clock to get a better look at it. "Argh! I can't believe I overslept this late!"

Liyenn ran around the room and quickly got dressed. She tied her hair back into a loose half pony, stuffed her feet into her boots and took off for the training grounds. "I can't believe he didn't wake me!" she said angrily. She picked up her pace, causing a bit of dirt to rise up as she ran.

She reached the third training ground in fifteen minutes. When she got there, Naruto was already practicing his kunai throwing. "Naruto!" she yelled. "Causing him to turn in her direction.

"Good morning, Liyenn." he said, baring his teeth in the form of a smile.

"Good morning?! It's noon already! Why didn't you wake me?!" she asked him.

Naruto gave a nervous chuckle. "You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you. Besides, you didn't get to sleep until late last night. You deserved a little extra rest."

"A little extra rest is only a half hour, not five." Liyenn folded her arms as Naruto laughed. Liyenn couldn't help but smile at him. "So, how's the training coming along?"

"It's coming." Naruto replied, throwing a kunai into the target. He then looked at Liyenn. "Hey, Liyenn?"

"Yeah?"

"How long ago was it since you slept with a stuffed animal?" Naruto asked, now approaching her.

Liyenn blinked at the question. This was unexpected. She thought for a moment. "I believe I was eight when I stopped sleeping with my teddy bear. Why? What made you ask that?"

"When I woke up, I had a hard time trying to get out of bed." Liyenn tilted her head. She wasn't quite following him. "You were sleeping as if I was your teddy bear." He grinned as he watched Liyenn's face turn pink. "You were holding on so tightly, I thought I was going to wake you." He was teasing her now, and Liyenn could tell. But, her blush deepened just the same.

"Shut up, you..." Liyenn mumbled.

Naruto laughed some more. "Oh..." This time he was blushing. "You didn't find any blood on you or anything, did you?"

Liyenn, again, tilted her head. "No, why?"

"Oh good. It was nothing. I, er, scratched myself in my sleep and found blood on my pajamas when I woke up." he lied. Truth was, when he woke up, the collar of Liyenn's pajama shirt was down a little bit. The first thing he saw when he woke up was Liyenn's bare chest and what little cleavage she had. But, he thought it was best if Liyenn never found that out.

"Are you ok?" Liyenn asked, seemingly buying his story. Naruto mentally sighed in relief. He really didn't want Liyenn to think he was a pervert or anything.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I couldn't even find the scratch when I looked for it. It must've healed already." he said, continuing with his story.

"That's good." Liyenn smiled at him. Naruto was relieved, but he find himself glancing downward every so often. He couldn't shake the image from his head, especially since she was standing in front of him. He forced himself to turn away. Liyenn noticed and became a little worried. "Is everything alright? You're not acting like yourself." Liyenn said, taking a step towards him.

Naruto swallowed and looked at her. He smiled. "Yup. Things couldn't get any better!" he said, followed by a nervous laugh.

Liyenn raised an eyebrow, questioning Naruto's sanity. But, she shrugged it off and moved towards the targets Naruto was throwing his kunai at. "Well, if everything's alright, let's start training." she said. She pulled out of the kunai that were stuck in the target board. She examined the marks left there. "You've been improving, even in such a short while." Liyenn stated, not bothering to look up. "But, you're still not focusing enough chakra into these attacks." She stood and turned to face Naruto, who was now standing a few feet behind her. Liyenn hand him the kunai. "By the end of the day, I want you to split the middle target board."

"What?!" Naruto looked at her as if she were crazy. Liyenn only nodded. "You can't be serious!"

"Well, you've been practicing without me here to watch you. Now that I'm here to help you improve, it shouldn't take too long. Look how far you came along yesterday." she pointed out.

"But, that was yesterday!" Naruto cried.

"Than you should try harder than yesterday. The sooner you learn this technique, the soon we could move on to something else." Liyenn walked a little ways behind Naruto.

"You're a tough sensei, you know that?" Naruto whined, causing Liyenn to stop in her tracks. "Kakashi-sensei seems easy compared to you..." he grumbled, throwing his kunai.

"I want to help you reach your dream. And if I'm going to help you, I can't go easy on ya. It's as simple as that." Naruto looked at her and sighed. He knew that she was right. He threw another kunai and watched as it hit about a centimeter away from the bull's-eye. Liyenn smiled. "This training will also improve your aim. Think of it as two birds with one stone."

"Right." Naruto grumbled obediently. Liyenn only giggled at him. The day passed by quickly, and with every kunai thrown, Naruto's attack became stronger and more accurate. Before the sun had completely sat, he had put a small split into the middle target board using his new ability.

"Nice." Liyenn commented, nodding her head and smirking.

"Really? It's so small though." Naruto said, not completely satisfied.

"I didn't say how big the split needed to be." Liyenn said, shaking her head slightly. "You split the board and it's the end of the day." Liyenn smiled broadly. "I think you should be able to use it now wherever you want. Of course, you'll get better at it the more you use it, but that comes with time." Liyenn said, as the two of them started walking back towards the apartment.

"How long did it take you to perfect your technique?"

"It took me about a month before I was able to shoot a flaming kunai from my hands. It took me another two weeks to learn how make the kunai burst into flames after it hit the target and then another two weeks to make the kunai burst into flames in mid air. Currently, you're doing better with your technique than I was with mine."

Naruto semi-stopped in his tracks and blinked at Liyenn a couple times. He was doing better? "How is that possible?" he wondered out loud.

"It seems that you have a lot more chakra control than you realise. Believe it or not, fire techniques are sometimes a lot easier to control than wind techniques. Mine are examples of those easily controlled fire techniques. But, it took me a while to learn how to control them, even under the Phoenix's training. It's obvious that you have a naturally control over any type of wind technique you may try to use." Liyenn explained. "You probably get it from your parents"

Naruto blinked a couple more times when she said this. He never really thought about his parents like that before. Sure, he wondered about them time from time, like all orphans would, but it never occurred to him about his parents' abilities. But, the topic of parents reminded Naruto of something. "Oh, I forgot to ask you about what you're going to do about Kakashi-sensei's offer."

This time, Liyenn blinked a few times. She turned away from Naruto and looked up into the blackening sky. "I would have to say I'm thinking about accepting it. I do want a family again, and maybe, just maybe, since I'm here now, Kakashi-tou-san won't have to meet the same fates as Daddy and Yoshi-tou-san." Liyenn looked at Naruto and saw that he was giving her a surprising smile. "What?"

"You're already starting to call him 'Tou-san'." Naruto said, looking extremely happy.

"I am?" Liyenn thought back to the last few moments and realized that Naruto was right. She gasped. "I didn't even realized that I said that!" she exclaimed, and Naruto laughed at her.

"I guess you're going to have to tell Kakashi-sensei at some point."

"Yeah, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow. It's getting kind of late. I don't want to disturb him just for this." Naruto glanced at her as he walked, giving her a questioning look. Liyenn noticed. "I know it's an important topic, but, right now, it can wait. Besides, Kakashi's probably busy. We both know that he had been working with Sasuke lately."

"Yeah..." Naruto pouted a little bit. "I'm starting to think that Kakashi-sensei's playing favorites..."

"Aw, don't say that Naruto. I'm sure Kakashi thinks as much as you as he does of Sasuke. It's just that Kakashi's a better suited person to teach Sasuke, since they both have the Sharingan. You know that."

"Yeah. Still kinda makes me jealous of him."

"Were you always like that?"

"Like what?"

"Jealous of Sasuke?"

Naruto blinked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you're always competing with him, even if he doesn't realize it."

"You noticed that?"

"Kinda hard not too when I'm hanging out with you guys all the time." Liyenn shrugged. "It's not so bad to have a rival, just don't go overboard with it, okay?" Naruto simply nodded. He felt it was te best thing to do for some reason. "C'mon." Liyenn said, taking hold of Naruto's hand. "Let's get home so we can sleep. You need your rest for the Chuunin exams."

"Y-yeah." Naruto agreed. Together, the two of them ran all the way home. Naruto felt the presence of someone watching them, and turned his head to see who it was. He saw Habu watching them from the rooftops, a smile on his face. Naruto turned back to Liyenn and realized that she never noticed the presence of her brother. Without warning, Naruto toes got caught on a rock and he tripped.

Naruto flew forward, knocking into Liyenn. She yelped in surprise and she too, fell to the ground. She landed face first on the ground, and Naruto fell on top of her. "What just happened?" Liyenn wondered out loud. She looked over her shoulder and saw Naruto's head had landed on her lower back. The expression on his face was priceless, she couldn't help but burst out laughing. He blushed madly and apologized. "Don't worry about it. Accidents happen. It's a part of life." Liyenn said as the two began to stand up.

In the distance, Naruto could hear a second laughter. He knew that it was coming from Liyenn's brother. _Yeah, I bet you're getting a good laugh off of me..._ he thought. "We're almost there. C'mon!" he heard Liyenn say. With that, Liyenn took off running again.

Naruto ran behind her. When they reached the apartment, Liyenn sat on the bed, smiling ear-to-ear. "What are you so happy about?" Naruto asked her. Her unknown happiness was kind of confusing him right about now.

"What? Am I not allowed to smile for no reason?" Naruto was about to answer when a smile cracked his face. "What?" Naruto went to the washroom and ran warm water over a face cloth. He came out and sat down next to Liyenn. He brought the face cloth to her face and gently wiped the tip of her nose.

"You still have dirt on your face from when you fell." Naruto said, continuing to rub the face cloth on her face. She blushed. Naruto saw it but never said anything about it. He smiled at her went he finished wiping her face clean. "All done."

"Thank you..." Liyenn said quietly.

"I guess we should get ready for bed. Chuunin exams tomorrow and everything."

"Yeah."

Liyenn stood and went to the washroom after gathering a few items from her suitcase. Naruto was too busy getting his bed ready to notice what she was doing. A half an hour passed by before Naruto realized that Liyenn was still in the washroom. "What is she doing in there?" he said. He moved to go check on her, but Liyenn came out before he reached the washroom. "I thought you got lost in my washroom." he said, smiling a little at her. He noticed that her hair was wet, and that's when it hit him.

"I took a bath." Liyenn replied.

"I said you had a dirty face. I didn't mean for you to take a bath because of it." he said, jokingly. Liyenn giggled at his joke, but yawned shortly afterwards. "I guess you should really get to bed if you're that tired."

"Yeah. You too."

"Yeah."

Hour went by, and Liyenn had already been asleep for most of them. Naruto, on the other, found that he couldn't sleep. He found that something was bothering, something Liyenn had said to him earlier. _"You probably get it from your parents."_ No one talked to him so openly about his parents before. In fact, he knew nothing about them and tried his best to not let it bother him.

He watched Liyenn as she slept peacefully. She read him so easily, and she proved that by just by guessing that he was always jealous of Sasuke. His eyes widened in shock. What if she read that what he felt for her? At least then he wouldn't have to tell her again. He sighed and laid down in bed.

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**A/N:** End of chapter 27. What did you think? Please lemme know! Thanks for reading this far!! 


	28. Acceptance

**A/N:** Hey everyone. Sorry for not updating this story sooner. I've redone chapter 28, simply because I didn't like what I did with my last chapter 28. I'm hoping to get chapter 29 done as well, and get that one uploaded asap. Gomen! Please forgive me!!

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**Chapter Twenty Eight:**

**Acceptance**

Liyenn awoke the next morning to the sound of an alarm. She squinted her eyes and saw Naruto sit up slowly, blacken spot under his eyes. "Naruto? Are you ok?" she asked, lifting herself off of her side to get a better look at him.

He shook his head slightly. "Couldn't sleep..." he muttered.

"Aw, why not?" Liyenn asked, now kneeling on the floor beside him.

Naruto looked at her, and saw that she was a little worried. "I was too nervous about my match with Neji." he confessed, returning his gaze to ahead of him.

Liyenn smiled, and gently caressed the side of his face. He looked at her, a faint blush formed at the bridge of his nose. "You'll do fine. You were training for this all month, haven't you?" Naruto nodded. Liyenn pouted and tilted her head cutely. "You're not gonna chicken out, are you?"

"What?!" Naruto shot up and gave her a determined look. "No way! I never run away!" He stood and gave her a smile. But then, his eyes drooped to the floor again.

Liyenn sighed. She stood and went to the small kitchen. _I'll make him breakfast..._ she thought, rooting through the cupboards, looking a pan. She found one and began searching the fridge. She found some eggs. "Perfect." she said, taking a couple in both of her hands. She heated up the stove, where she began to fry the eggs.

Liyenn had almost finished when Naruto entered the kitchen, intrigued by the smell coming from it. "Eggs?" Naruto questioned.

Liyenn nodded her head. "Eggs have high protein levels, so they should help you keep your energy levels up during your fight." Liyenn kept her attention on the eggs, making sure they wouldn't burn on her.

"Thanks, Liyenn." Liyenn glanced over her shoulder and saw Naruto smiling brightly at her. "You're the best."

Liyenn blushed slightly, and returned her gaze to the eggs. "It's no problem, really..." she said.

Forty-five minutes later, Naruto and Liyenn headed off together. They walked in silence, Naruto was too nervous to talk. They over heard some people talking about the how they couldn't wait for the Hyuuga match. Naruto's eyes shifted a little, growing more worried by the moment. "Hey, Liyenn." he started.

"What is it, Naruto?" Liyenn asked, looking towards him.

"I think... I think I'm going to take a different route. Try to calm down a little bit." Liyenn glanced at Naruto. She had never seen him so nervous before about something. "I'll be at the matches, don't worry."

"I know you'll be at the matches." Naruto glanced up at Liyenn, and saw that she looked worried. "Are you going to be ok?" Naruto nodded, and, before Liyenn could say anything else, he turned and went in a different direction. "Naruto..." Liyenn watched him walk away from her. _I'm really worried..._

'_I know you are, Liyenn-chan. He has been acting differently. But, I'm sure he'll be fine. You should hurry and go to the stadium.'_

_Right._ Liyenn walked quickly towards the stadium, but she couldn't stop thinking about him. "Gez, I worry over him like he's my partner or something." she said, not realizing that it was out loud.

"Like who's your partner?"

Liyenn looked up and saw Habu waiting for her at the entrance of the stadium. She blinked. "I said that out loud...?" Habu smiled and nodded. She smacked her forehead. "Great..."

Habu laughed. "You're worried about Naruto-kun's match against Hyuuga Neji, aren't you?"

Liyenn nodded. "Hey, Habu-onii-chan?" Habu nodded, indicating that he was listening to her. "Who is this Neji guy?"

Habu looked at her, and paused before answering her question. "He's a branch house member of the Hyuuga family. His duty is to protect the secret of their Blood limit with his life, also meaning protecting the main house members." Habu explained. "I heard from Gai that he's extremely talented. He did beat a main house member after all."

"I wouldn't know." Liyenn looked away from her brother. "I missed all of the Preliminaries, so I don't know anyone."

"Sure you do." Liyenn glanced at her brother. "You know Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun, don't you?" Liyenn nodded slightly. "See. Now, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Liyenn tilted her head. "About what?" she asked, as she continued to into the stadium.

"I was thinking. Maybe you should go to Mori for a while, to help with your recovery."

"My recovery? But, I've already recovered. There's no more healing that needs to be done."

"Naruto-kun was right in saying that you should try to avoid, er, being a shinobi for a while yet. And going to Mori will help you relax a little better." Habu paused and looked at Liyenn. He knew that she wouldn't want to go, considering everything that happened there. He sighed. "You don't have to go if you don't want to, Liyenn."

"I'll go." Liyenn answered quietly. It was true, she really didn't want to go. She didn't want to face Kuro again, nor did she wish to see the spot where her mother died, not after she had gotten pass it. "But..."

"But, what? What's wrong?"

"I'm not going alone."

Habu glanced at her and smiled softly. He knew why she said that, as would anyone if they knew her well enough. "I wasn't planning on letting you go alone. I was going to come with you. We need time to catch up with everything that we've missed in the last thirteen years." Habu explained.

"I see." Liyenn looked up when she heard someone call out to her. She saw Sakura waving at her. "I'm going to sit with Sakura. Oh, and tell Kakashi that I want to talk to him if you see him."

"Well do." Habu said his goodbye and headed towards the stairwell, where he quickly vanished. Liyenn approached Sakura, where she offered the seat next to her. Liyenn gratefully took the seat.

"What is Habu-san doing here?" Sakura asked Liyenn as she sat.

"He's probably on duty." Liyenn answered. She saw the Genin had lined up, allowing everyone to see their faces. "Naruto's not here yet. Neither is Sasuke." she commented.

"I know. But, there's still time. I'm sure they'll both be here." Sakura said, giving a small smile.

"You say that, Sakura, but we all know you're just as worried as Liyenn. Maybe even more." Ino said, peering around Sakura to see Liyenn. Ino smiled at her. "But, I'm sure they'll show. You were with Naruto earlier though, right?"

Liyenn nodded. "Of course. But, he said he was taking a different route so he could try to relax." she told them.

"Well, at least we know where he is." Ino stated, trying to comfort Sakura. Sakura nodded, and, before they knew it, Naruto flew into the stadium. "Ok, so he's right there." Ino chuckled, gently rubbing Sakura's shoulder.

"Hey, have you guys seen Kakashi lately?" Liyenn asked, after she gave a quick sigh of relief. She was actually starting to think that Naruto had chickened out.

"No, why?" Sakura glanced at Liyenn, forgetting about Sasuke for a moment.

"No reason. I just need to talk to him."

"Hey, Sempai!" Liyenn glanced up when she heard Kiba's voice. She saw that there was another girl with him. She just simply turned her attention back to the Genin on the field. "Do you mind if we sit here, Sempai?" Kiba asked. Liyenn shook her head, and Kiba and the girl helped themselves to seats beside Liyenn. "You're only here to see Naruto's match against Neji, aren't you?"

Liyenn looked up at Kiba. "Of course. Other than that, I wouldn't be here." she answered.

"I thought as much." Kiba commented, sounding a little rejected. Liyenn gave Kiba a questioning look. Kiba glanced at her, and faked a smile. "I just know how close you two are, that's all. He's your best friend, right?"

"Right." Liyenn looked back down to the field. She heard Kiba mutter something, but couldn't quite pick it out. "What was that?"

Kiba waved his hands, looking rather nervous. "Nothing. Nothing at all, Sempai." He turned his face towards the Genin, but he continued to side glance at Liyenn. He couldn't help but feel jealous of Naruto. _Would anything change if I beat Naruto in the Prelims?_ he wondered. He then remembered that Liyenn didn't see the Preliminaries. She had been sick. "Hey, Sempai. Glad to see you're feeling better now."

"Thanks, Kiba." Liyenn looked at him. "But, you never came to see me while I was in the hospital." she commented.

"Well, I spent a lot of time with Hinata. She lost her match at the Prelims and got hurt pretty bad."

"She's a Hyuuga, right?" Kiba nodded to her question. "Was this Neji guy her opponent during the Preliminary matches?"

"Yeah, he was. Neji's pretty strong."

"Naruto's stronger."

Both Kiba and the girl beside him looked at Liyenn when she said that. "You really believe that, Sempai?"

"Of course. I've seen Naruto at his best. Plus, I've been helping him train a little bit. I'm positive that Naruto's gonna do well."

Kiba smiled at Liyenn. "I believe you, Sempai. He really surprised me when he beat me at the Prelims. He really has gotten stronger." Liyenn nodded and listened to the proctor announce the beginning of the matches. The first match; Uzumaki Naruto verus Hyuuga Neji.

"I guess now I'll finally see what the Hyuuga's are really about." Liyenn watched as punches and kunai were thrown, most of them deflected by a spinning chakra force. Liyenn listened intensely as Neji explained everything. It was a technique that he developed himself, he claimed. Liyenn watched as Naruto tried to get pass Neji's defenses and fail horribly. Neji laughed at him, called Naruto a dropout. Liyenn listened to every word Neji said. She knew that the words spoken in a battle like this one were important, some of them cutting away at a person.

"You can't not fight fate." Neji had said.

"Pfft." Liyenn turned her nose up to Neji. What was his problem? "Come on, Naruto! You _can_ beat him!" Liyenn called out, causing a bunch of people to give her strange looks.

"Heh. Your friend must be really stupid to think you can beat me." Neji commented, glancing towards Liyenn. Liyenn opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when Kiba addressed her. She looked at Kiba, and saw that he was looking towards Naruto. She turned her gaze to Naruto, only to see that he was about to say something now.

Naruto glared at Neji. "Don't talk shit about her." he growled. He leapt towards Neji, only to get blocked again.

"Why? She's just another stupid girl." Neji stated after Naruto flew backwards ten feet. He was smirking at his victory, but the smirk slowly faded when he caught a glimpse of Naruto's eyes.

Hatred flashed in Naruto's eyes. "The only stupid one here, is you." Naruto stood. "I will not lose to you. I made a promise to Hinata that I would beat you, and I made a promise to Liyenn that I wouldn't back down." Naruto made a small growl-like noise and made a hand sign. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_" Five more Narutos appeared on the field, each of them holding kunai. "Take this!" they all barked, sending a barricade of kunai towards Neji.

"Nice." Liyenn commented, giving a very pleased smile.

"What? He just did what he's been doing for the pass twenty minutes." Sakura stated, glancing towards Liyenn.

"No, he didn't. He infused wind-elemental chakra with the kunai. The wind will make them sharper, and a little hard to deflect."

"Wait, you saw that from here?" Ino asked, giving Liyenn an inquiring look.

"I just recognized the small hand sign he made."

"He made a hand sign? When?"

Liyenn chuckled. "I only noticed it because I'm the one who taught him how to do it." Liyenn smiled. "I can't believe he actually remembered the use it, even if it did get deflected again." Liyenn commented as Neji deflected the kunai once again.

"Now that I've seen all of your moves, allow me to show you some of mine." Neji made his move, using a bloodline technique to disable Naruto's chakra nodes. Everyone watched intensely, believing that Neji had won this match.

Liyenn eyed Naruto, hoping, praying that he was going to be alright. "C'mon, Naruto." Liyenn whispered, loud enough for Kiba and Sakura to hear her. She bit thumb nail, this match was almost too intense for her to handle.

The crowd gasped in awe and horror when a eerie chakra began to fill the stadium. Liyenn looked around, not completely understanding what was going on. Why were people scared? "What is he doing?" she heard Sakura ask. "Naruto shouldn't be able to use any chakra." Sakura stated, making Liyenn look at her in curiosity. _'This must be the Kyuubi's chakra.'_ the Phoenix commented from within.

_What? What does it mean?_

'_It means, Naruto-kun has learned how to use the demon's chakra, much like how you've learned to use mine.'_ Liyenn watched Naruto as he and Neji clashed once more. There was a standstill. Dust had flew everywhere; seeing what happened to the two combatants was almost impossible.

When the dust finally settled, Neji emerged from a carter, whereas Naruto laid still in another. "See, your fate was sealed the moment this fight was decided." Neji stated, smirking to himself. Before he knew it, the ground beneath him began to crumble, Naruto popping out of the ground, uppercutting Neji in the jaw.

The crowd was silence, surprised by what had happened. Naruto and Neji exchanged a few final words before a cheer erupted from the crowd. Liyenn squealed in excitement, jumping up and down while clapping her hands. When Naruto left the field, Liyenn left her spot on the balcony. She had to go see him, she just had to. "Naruto!" she called as she got closer the waiting area.

Naruto was walking up a second flight of stairs when he heard Liyenn calling him. He met her, catching her in his arms as she jumped on him. "I did it, Liyenn." he said brightly, his eyes shining with glee.

"I'm so proud of you, Naruto! I knew you could do it!" Liyenn exclaimed happily. She hugged him tightly.

Naruto hugged Liyenn back, just as tightly. "Thank you, Liyenn." He let go of Liyenn for a moment and looked her in the eyes. "Did you hear that crowd? They were cheering? All of them for me!"

Liyenn smiled. Yes, Naruto. They were cheering for you."

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**A/N:** End of the new chapter 28. Again, Gomen!! I'm sorry I've taken so long to update this story. But, the good news, I think I'm getting back into the grove to write this story. So, please forgive me!! -bows deeply, looking extremely apologetic- 


	29. Invasion

**A/N:** Here, at last, is chapter 29. I am so sorry I took so long to update this story. -bows deeply- I hope you can forgive me! I promise, I will try to get the next chapter posted a hell of a lot sooner than this chapter. Again, I'm really, really, really, really sorry!! Oh, and for those of you who didn't see it, I've rewritten chapter 28. I hated what I use to have for it, so I redid it. Well, thank you for your patience, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well as the revised chapter 28.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Nine:**

**Invasion**

"The next match is between Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara." the examiner called. Liyenn turned over her shoulder when this was announced. She looked back at Naruto.

"Go on. I'll catch up with you in a bit." Naruto said, smiling.

"Okay." Liyenn ran up the stairs back to her spot in the balcony. As she did, she heard Sakura and Ino making a small ruckus.

"Where's Sasuke-kun?" they both whined.

"It appears that Uchiha Sasuke has not yet arrived at the stadium for the Chuunin exam. As a result, the match between Sasuke and Gaara will continue when he arrives. We will now proceed with the remaining matches. Now, we will have the match between Aburame Shino and Kankurou." the examiner announced.

Kankurou and Shino stepped towards each other. Kankurou gave a worrisome look before the examiner waved his hand between the two candidates, giving them the signal to begin. Shino stood in his stance, waiting for Kankurou to make his move. Kankurou glanced around the stadium. He gave a small smirk. "You're a lucky punk, you know that?" Kankurou stood up straight, moving his hand slightly. Shino tensed, preparing himself for Kankurou's attack. "I forfeit." Kankurou announced, raising his hand.

"What?! No way!" Liyenn said, staring down at the two.

"He must be afraid of Shino. I wouldn't blamed him." Kiba boosted. Liyenn eyed Kankurou, her face showed worry and slight hints of fear. _There's no way someone like _him_ would forfeit so easily... something's up here..._ Liyenn thought. "Sempai?" Liyenn looked towards Kiba and noticed that he looked a little worried. "Is there anything wrong?"

Liyenn forced herself to smile. "Of course not. Why would there be? A memeber of Konoha just won their match in the Chuunin Selection Exams." Sakura glanced at Liyenn and knew that there was something up. Liyenn's smile may have been able to fool someone like Kiba, but it wouldn't fool Sakura. She knew Liyenn too well to fall for it.

"Winner of this match is Aburame Shino by default. We will now continue with the next match. It will be Konoha's Nara Shikamaru verus Suna's Temari." Shikamaru stood where he was, not wanting to go through with this match.

"Aw, come on, Shikamaru. Get moving." Naruto said, pushing Shikamaru over the railing. He fell and landed on his back. "Haha, now you have to get moving!" Naruto called to him. Shikamaru simply replied with a 'Gez'.

The crowd was now causing the same ruckus that Sakura and Ino were causing a little earlier. "Where's Uchiha?!" came from the mouths of the audience. Liyenn gave a disgusted look as they threw their garbage down on Shikamaru.

"Is he really that good that they can't respect the other candidates?" she asked out loud, causing some of the audience around her to quiet down a little.

"I don't really know if he's _that_ good, Sempai, but I do know that he is that popular." Kiba stated. "Everyone else is hen's meat compared to him."

"That doesn't mean that they should be rude about it." she said, turning up her nose. Kiba laughed at her, causing a smile to tug at her lips. She couldn't hold it in, she had to laugh. "Dammit Kiba! Why'd you have to go and make me laugh?!" Liyenn whined. "I was on a roll."

Kiba chuckled. "Yeah. On a roll of making everyone mad at you, and me and Sakura for being friends of your's." Liyenn pouted, which made Kiba laugh even more. "Aw, don't worry Sempai. I'm sure you can kick the asses of every loser in this stadium." Kiba grinned when Liyenn smirked at his comment. Most of the people around them gave nervous looks and decided it was best to shut their traps, which caused Kiba to grin even more.

"Oh, goodie. Shikamaru's starting his fight against Temari." Liyenn said, watching as Shikamaru got up and hid behind a tree. "C'mon, Shikamaru! Show her what you're made of!" Liyenn cheered. She really didn't know this Shikamaru person, but she wanted him to beat Temari... for more personal reasons.

Shikamaru's fight started with him devising a plan to counteract Temari's forceful wind attacks. Liyenn watched as Shikamaru manipulated the shadows to do his bidding, it was actually the first time she seen someone use shadows this way to fight. It was quite amazing. She watched as Temari avoided his shadow for the most part, jumping and running out of his range. She pouted when she realized that Temari was able to avoid every chance Shikamaru had of catching her.

Temari cackled something down on the field, bragging about how Shikamaru couldn't defeat for if he couldn't catch her. Everyone watched Shikamaru give a small smirk before Temari froze. She couldn't move! "What happened?" Liyenn asked. She turned to see Kiba, but she was so busy watching Shikamaru's fight that she failed to noticed that Kiba and the girl beside him had left. She pouted, and decided to turn to Sakura and Ino for answers.

"Alright!" Ino cheered. "He caught her!"

"Really?" Liyenn asked, facing the battle again. Sure enough, Shikamaru's shadow had connected with Temari's. He had use the burrow that Naruto had made in the pervious fight as his final attempt. "Wow, Shikamaru's really good." Liyenn commented out loud.

"Of course he's really good. He's on my team!" Ino retorted, laughing at what Liyenn said. "Finish her off, Shikamaru!" Ino cheered.

"He's not going to win, Ino." said a boy on the other side of Ino.

"Hmph, that shows how much you know. He's already got her trapped, all he needs to do is attack." Ino smirked. There was no way Shikamaru was losing this fight.

Liyenn glanced at the boy beside Ino. She hadn't noticed him sitting there before, but she recognized him from the second part of the Chuunin exam. "Sakura, who's that?"

"Mm?" Sakura looked towards where Liyenn was pointing. She smiled. "That's Chouji. He's Ino's other teammate." Sakura explained.

"So, Chouji lost his match in the Prelims, right?"

"That's right." Sakura answered, turning back towards the match.

"Hey, Sakura?" Liyenn just remembered something. She was so caught up in watching the fights and cheering for Konoha that she completely forgot that she wanted to talk to Kakashi.

"Yeah?" Sakura glanced at Liyenn for a moment, just to let her know she was listening.

"Have you seen Kakashi?"

Sakura thought for a moment. "No, I haven't seen him since you were released from the hospital." Sakura answered. "Why?" Now it was Sakura's turned to ask questions. What did Liyenn want with Kakashi?

"It's nothing important, really. I just want to talk to him about something."

"Oh?" Sakura was interested now. But, she was stunned by what happened next in Shikamaru's fight. "What?! Shikamaru quit?!" Sakura exclaimed alongside Ino.

Chouji chuckled as he bit into his handful of chips. "I guess you don't know Shikamaru as well as you think, Ino."

"Why did Shikamaru quit?" Liyenn asked. She had missed the conversation Shikamaru and Temari were having, since she was talking to Sakura about Kakashi.

"He quit because he was almost out of chakra." Chouji answered.

Liyenn glanced towards Chouji. "I see. Shikamaru would rather save his strength for something more important than wasting it all during one fight." Chouji nodded. "That's a extremely smart. Pushing to victory may be brave, but learning when it's time to stop and retreat is also very important." Liyenn explained as Sakura and Ino both gave her questioning looks. Liyenn gave the girls very serious looks when they continued to look at her curiously. "It can save people's lives."

Liyenn sighed when Sakura and Ino both let out a long, dragged out 'Oh'. She looked down at the field, noticing that Naruto was yelling at Shikamaru for quitting. She couldn't help but chuckle. _Looks like Sakura and Ino aren't the only ones who doesn't understand._

"So, now it's Sasuke-kun's fight." Sakura said, her eyes wandering the stadium, looking for her teammate and sensei. "They're still not here yet." she whispered.

Liyenn nodded. "He'll be disqualified if he doesn't show up soon." she thought out loud.

"Oh, Liyenn! Don't say that!" Sakura whined, sounding like she was going to panic. She looked down at the field, listening to Ino whining to Chouji about Sasuke not being there yet. "Please, Sasuke-kun. Please show up..." Sakura prayed quietly so Ino wouldn't hear her.

Liyenn smiled at her. "Do you really think Sasuke would miss his fight in the Chuunin Exams? He's too hellbent on getting revenge and getting stronger to miss something like this." Liyenn chuckled when Sakura gave a small smirk at Liyenn's comment, knowing that what she said was true. "Fighting Sabaku no Gaara will be one of his greater challenges, though. He probably made it one of his milestones. If Sasuke can beat him after Gaara beat Lee, whom Sasuke couldn't beat, it would make Sasuke feel better about himself, and prove to himself that he has gotten stronger." Liyenn looked down to the candidate waiting area, where she could see Gaara waiting there eagerly beside his older brother and sister. Something about those three made her really uneasy, made her fidget with worry and curiosity.

The examiner had stated that they would be waiting an extra ten minutes for Sasuke to arrive at the stadium, and if he didn't show up after that, he would get disqualified. "Come on, Sasuke-kun... where are you?" Sakura asked out loud. There were actual tears forming in her eyes from fear that Sasuke was going to be disqualified.

"Where's Sasuke-kun?" asked a new, but familiar voice.

Both Liyenn and Sakura turned to see who had spoken, only to see a kind, but determined face. "Lee-san." Sakura said, greeting him kindly. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came to watch the Chuunin Exams, but it looks like I already missed some of the fights." Lee explained.

Liyenn nodded and smiled. "Naruto did really well against Neji, and Shikamaru won his fight against Temari." She turned back to the field. "All we're doing now is waiting for Sasuke to get his ass here and fight Gaara." Lee flinched at the name of his former opponent, he wondered how Sasuke was preparing for this fight.

"So, no one's heard from Sasuke-kun yet?" Lee asked. He was feeling kind of down. Naruto had beaten Neji, the one opponent he truly wanted to fight. And now, Sasuke was suppose to fight Gaara, the opponent Lee couldn't beat. How was this fear?

Liyenn groaned when Lee asked his question. "No, that jerk is causing a real big commotion here at the stadium. I swear, the next time I see that bastard, he's getting a good beating from me."

Lee chuckled from Liyenn's comment. "You're certainly a spiteful one, aren't you, Liyenn-chan?" Liyenn gave Lee a smug look, assuring him that she was nothing less than spiteful at the moment.

The minutes slowly passed, and everyone was getting anxious. The examiner looked at his watch as Naruto and Shikamaru grumbled something on the field, while Lee waited patiently beside Liyenn, Sakura, Ino and Chouji. Liyenn sighed, she didn't like waiting, and everyone's impatience was driving her insane. The seconds passed by, and Liyenn was actually surprised she hadn't attacked anyone yet. The crowd behind her was completely restless, all of them saying 'Where's Uchiha?!' or 'Give us Uchiha!' Liyenn slouched in her seat. "How much longer is that bastard gonna make us wait?" she groaned.

Just as the words were out of her mouth, a whirlwind gusted into the stadium, small, green leaves flying everywhere. When the whirlwind settled, two people stood before the examiner, one with silver hair, the second with raven haired. "He's here!" cheered Sakura and Ino.

Liyenn frowned angrily down at Sasuke. "SASUKE!" she yelled, causing him to look up to her. "You idiot! You had us all worried about you!" she screamed, while Sasuke merely smirked. "I'll kick your ass the next time you put us through this hell!!" Liyenn promised.

Sasuke continued to smirk, and raised his voice a little, "Yeah, and I look forward to the chance we get to fight for real, Liyenn." he said, causing Liyenn to stop her yelling. A faint blush formed at the bridge of her nose as she went completely quiet, and Sasuke turned to Naruto, who was yelling at him as well. "I want to fight you too, Naruto."

Naruto stopped his yelling and smiled. Sasuke had acknowledged him, there wasn't much more he could ask for. "Yeah, so you better not lose to this weirdo." Naruto commented, jerking his head in Gaara's direction.

Liyenn watched as Naruto and Shikamaru started to head back to the candidates's platform. Five minutes after the examiner had politely commanded Gaara to face Sasuke, Gaara emerged from the place where Naruto and Shikamaru entered. Though Liyenn couldn't see the look on his face plainly, she could tell there was some sort of insane excitement in the way he walked. It made her shiver.

"Hi guys!" Kakashi said after he had joined the Genin and Gai on the balcony. "Sorry if we worried you." he said with a smile.

Sakura looked at him, and smiled, trying to show him that it didn't bother her much at all. Liyenn, on the other hand, frowned at him, and said, "Whatever, at least the crowd's satisfied now."

Kakashi looked confused, so Sakura explained, "The audience was making a really big commotion since Sasuke-kun hadn't shown up for his match with Gaara. Liyenn's been... well, Liyenn's been a little annoyed with how the crowd was treating Shikamaru."

"Oh?"

Liyenn raised her nose. "There was no need for what they did." Kakashi chuckled a little at Liyenn. He knew she was serious, and that it really did annoy her. It was just funny to watch her act stuck up. "Oh, I've made my decision, Kakashi." Kakashi eyed Liyenn, he knew what she was talking, even as Sakura and Ino both gave Liyenn odd looks. "I'll accept your offer." She turned to Kakashi, and smiled. "I know Daddy would want it this way, and I know Onii-chan would probably prefer it this way, too."

Kakashi smiled brightly as Sakura and Ino turned to him for answers. "That's great, Liyenn. We'll start the process after the Chuunin Exams are over." Liyenn nodded, and they all turned back towards the match. They all watched as Sasuke ran in light-speed circles around Gaara, preforming moves Liyenn had never seen before. Kakashi explained everything, telling her that all of Sasuke's new moves were based off of Lee's moves. Liyenn's eyes widened as she told Lee how amazing he must be, who, in turn, blushed a deep red from the compliment.

The match went on, Sasuke's movements were getting harder to follow. "Kakashi-sensei!" cried a voice from behind them.

Everyone turned their heads, looking to see who was causing the ruckus. Naruto and Shikamaru stood there, panting, sweat dripping from their chins to the floor. "Naruto?" Kakashi asked, looking a little confused.

"Kakashi-sensei, you've gotta stop the match." Naruto pleaded. "Gaara's not like us. He kills people to feel alive." Everyone eyed the two young men, wondering what the hell was wrong with them. "Please, Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke's gonna die if you don't do something."

Liyenn looked down at the battlefield while Kakashi started explaining something to Naruto and Shikamaru. She knew she had gotten a bad feeling from the red-headed shinobi from Suna, but would he really kill Sasuke for the sake of killing him? She carefully watched the sphere of sand that had rooted itself in the center of the stadium, wondering what was going to happen next. She could hear birds chirping, which made her smile. It was nice to hear the birds over all of this battling. But, the noise that was being made, Liyenn soon realized, couldn't've been made by the birds that lived in this village. She frowned, looking for the source of the chirping.

There, where Sasuke had landed on the wall, Liyenn could see a faint blue chakra forming with lightning swirling around. "What is that?" she muttered.

"Kakashi's only original technique." Gai answered. "Chidori, or Raikiri as Kakashi had affectingly called it." Gai began explaining the Chidori, but Liyenn decided not to listen. She wanted to see how this was going to change the entire match around. She watched as Sasuke built up the chakra in his hand and started racing down the concrete wall towards his opponent. Sasuke thrust his arm into the barrier of sand, forcing all of the lightning into the sphere to hit Gaara. Before anyone could really react, Gaara started screaming about his own blood.

"What the?" Liyenn frowned. Was this the first time Gaara had been injured? It certainly appeared that way. A feather gently brushed against Liyenn's nose, causing it to twitch. She gazed upon the feather, her eyelids feeling heavier and heavier by the second.

_What's that sound?_ The sound of clashing metal and fists hitting flesh filled the area where Liyenn was sitting. She blinked and looked around. Sakura was gone, and Kakashi and Gai were fighting strange shinobi.

'_Liyenn-chan? Are you ok?'_ the Phoenix asked, sounding a little worried.

_Phoenix? What's going on?_

'_Thank goodness, you're alright.'_ The Phoenix gave a sigh of relief. _'A genjutsu was cast upon everyone within the stadium. Luckily, I was able to momentary block all of your sensory receptors to help you come out of it.'_

_Who cast the genjutsu?_

'_I cannot tell, Liyenn-chan.'_ Liyenn looked around, rubbing her eyes to focus them a little. "Kakashi?" she said.

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder and saw that the smaller woman had awakened from the genjutsu. "Liyenn? You're awake?" Kakashi asked, dodging what could've been a fatal bow to the chest.

Liyenn nodded and started to stand. "What's going on?" she asked.

Kakashi jumped down in front of her, "Liyenn, you should stay back. Your body hasn't fully recovered from your illness. Let me and Gai handle this. I'll protect you." Kakashi added, giving her his solid oath.

Liyenn merely nodded. "Why does everyone believe that my body hasn't fully recovered yet?" she muttered, earning a rather serious look from Kakashi. "Ok, ok, I'll find a place where I can hide." Liyenn hopped over the seat, dodging the body of a man that Gai had just knocked out. Liyenn crouched down, and, lying down on her stomach, she began crawling towards the doorway that would take her out of the stadium.

Liyenn had almost made it out of the bleachers when she was forced to stop. Someone was standing before her, blocking her way. She looked upwards and saw that it was a masked Sound ninja. "Where do you think you're goin'?" he asked her.

Liyenn gave a crooked smile. "Nowhere." she answered, standing quickly. The man grabbed for her arm, wanting to use her as a hostage, but she was too quick for the older and bulkier man. She fell backwards onto her hands, bringing her legs up straight. As her feet came up, each foot hit the Sound-nin's jaw, causing him to stumble backwards a little. He growled at her as Liyenn did a back flip, landing on her feet again. She smirked at the older man, "Come and get it," she taunted. The grunt did as he was told, charging at Liyenn was all of the speed he could muster.

When he was close enough, Liyenn dodged his charge, countering it with a jump kick to the head. The bigger shinobi fell to the ground, unconscious. Liyenn smirked at her handy work, glancing back at Kakashi and Gai, who had ben watching her this entire time. "Who said I can't handle these losers myself?" she asked, sticking her tongue out at the end.

Liyenn continued to run towards the doorway, but, suddenly, she felt highly faint. She stopped, not able to take another step. She collapsed, not even able to hold up her own body weight. Kakashi had ran to catch her, Gai close behind him to cover his back. Kakashi smiled as Liyenn looked up at him with heavy eyelids. "Looks like you still need a lot of time to recover." he said as Liyenn slowly blinked her eyes until they could no longer be opened.

"What are we going to do now, Kakashi? We can't take her back to her seat." Gai said as he fought off a ninja from Suna.

"Kakashi!" cried a voice. The two men looked around towards the door Liyenn was heading towards. Habu emerged from the door, panting. "Where's Liyenn?" he asked frantically, worried to death about his little sister.

"Right here." Kakashi informed, showing Habu his unconscious little sister. "How does everything else look?" he asked his ANBU friend.

Habu shook his head. "Not good. Hokage-sama's in a tight pinch. He's fighting against Orochimaru, Shodai-sama and Nidaime-sama."

Kakashi and Gai gasped upon learning this information. "Shouldn't you be helping the other ANBU?" Gai asked, looking a little confused.

Again, Habu shook his head. "There's nothing we can do to help Hokage-sama, so my Captain told me that I could go look for Liyenn and take her to safety. Obviously, I took him up on that offer."

"Well, I don't know why we're standing around here for." Kakashi said, standing to pass Habu Liyenn's small body. "Hurry and go." Habu nodded, not needed Kakashi to tell him twice. Habu carried Liyenn away as Kakashi and Gai continued to fight with the shinobi of Sound and Sand.

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**A/N:** End of of chapter 29. Poor little Liyenn, everyone thinks she needs a lot of rest. Well, I guess everyone's right about that XD Anyway, thank you for reading this far! And, again, I'm really sorry about not getting this story updated sooner! Thank you, again, for your patience. It really means a lot to me.


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